Pakistani pop singer Abrar ul Haq dedicates his career to heeding the healthcare needs of the downtrodden

Pakistan's most thrilling pop and folk singer, Abrar ul Haq, whose first song hit the top of the charts and did record breaking business in 1995, is a man with a humane heart - he has dedicated his career to heeding the healthcare needs of the downtrodden people of his country.

"I almost broke down emotionally after the death of my mother in 1996 because I was attached to her more than anybody else, and she was a great source of inspiration for me," the soft-spoken Haq told Gulf News, explaining the reasons that led him to embark upon a humanitarian project.

"Although I had been taking part in social and welfare activities since my college days, I decided to launch a welfare organisation in 1999 - Sahara For Life Trust. Sahara means aid in Urdu.

Crowd-puller

"The main objective of this project is to establish hospitals and schools in the backward and remote areas in Pakistan, to provide free medical and education facilities to underprivileged people," he explained.

"The vision of my Trust is to provide sustained, high quality advisory, preventive and curative services to female patients and reduce the maternal and infant mortality rates, irrespective of their ability to pay, in the semi-urban and rural areas of Pakistan," explained the 29-year-old singer.

These are the regions where one mother dies every 20 minutes while delivering a baby, because of the non-availability of proper medical services, as Abrar observed.

His first project took off last year when the foundation stone of his maiden hospital was laid in March. Sughra Shafi Medical Complex, named after his mother, will be ready by 2003. The 110-bed hospital, being built in Narowal district, is a mother and childcare hospital as well as a general healthcare centre.

Around three million people live in the backward district of Narowal without any hospital facility. The hospital will provide high quality curative and preventive services free of cost to poor patients, irrespective of their caste, creed, culture and religion. Only those patients who can pay will be charged.

Abrar aims at establishing a chain of such hospitals all over Pakistan to decrease the mortality rate of mothers and children. "I intend to launch education projects as well, but this will be after constructing hospitals in all the four provinces of the country."

The popular entertainer conducts shows around the world to raise funds for his Trust. "I donate the full income from my concerts held in the name of Sahara, and I myself am the major donor for my welfare projects."

He has become one of the most successful performers in Dubai, as all his five concerts in the last three years have proved.

Abrar, who did his M.Sc. from the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, is surprisingly a law graduate. However, he got his first job in 1995 as a lecturer in geography at the Atchison College, Lahore, which is considered the most prestigious education institution in that city.

But he had to quit his post when he launched his album featuring the ever popular - but controversial - song Kiney Kiney Jana Hai Billo Dey Ghar. The college administration told him, after much public debate over the song, to choose between his career as a singer or a lecturer.

"I chose to be a singer," he noted.

Apart from breaking all-time records, Billo De Ghar also sent a wave of anger amongst certain sections of society; the song was even discussed in parliament, with writs being filed in the courts seeking its ban.

And any girl with the name Billo lashed out at the singer, while fights among neighbours for playing this song loud became a routine matter.

But after the first big hit, Abrar never looked back. His successive albums have always had at least one or two songs revolving around a particular character, either from a village or city.

He also chooses titles for his album from everyday life. G.T. Road, Majajani, Bai Ja Saikal Tey and Jana Malu Mall are the albums he has released so far.

Abrar, who faced acute opposition and criticism from famous pop singers when his first album was released, became popular overnight. The crowd refused to even listen to singers like Junaid Jamshaid at an official mega musical show held at Liaqat Stadium in Rawalpindi in 1996.

They turned the place into a battlefield by throwing and breaking chairs when Abrar was obstructed by his fellow singers (out of jealousy) from performing at the venue. They only calmed down when Abrar sang Billo De Ghar for them.

He also has had to face criticism from certain groups for singing Nuch Punjaban because they, being Punjabis, took it personally and said the singer had insulted Punjabi girls in the song.

Innocent song

"This is not the case, it is an innocent song to entertain the people," Abrar defended himself, saying those who had filed court writs to ban his new song were actually trying to blackmail him.

The main reason for Abrar's popularity is perhaps the lyrics of his songs, which comprise anecdotes, sayings, Sufi poetry and famous cultural and historical stories of the country, especially from Punjab.

"I myself write the lyrics for all my songs, compose and arrange the music," he said, while explaining his music as a mixture of the "funny, serious and romantic".

"My music and songs have changed the face of pop music in the country as I mixed it with folk and created a new, higher level of energy for people to enjoy every bit of it," he asserted. "My songs revitalised the music scene and increased economic activity in the otherwise dying music industry in the country.

"My songs help people, especially youngsters, vent their frustration and relieve them from tension."