The popular Pashto singer Gulzar Alam is back to his singing career, according to an interview that was published in daily Mashriq, Peshawar, and then translated by this writer into Pashto.
A few years ago, according to his own words, he left singing after the Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal, a coalition of six religious parties, came into power in the province of Pakhtoonkhwa. This government closed Nashtar Hall, a center of cultural activities of the province, and started targeting singers, musicians and artists.
This affected not only his life and career but disappointed the lovers of Pashto music too because Gulzar Alam had quite good popularity among them. He was insulted by the mullahs in the government; an attack on his office in Dabgari Bazar was enough to terrorize the whole music community and then the attacks on music shops bring a halt to the business.
So Gulzar Alam said goodbye to music but he was still under constant threat from the anti-Pashto elements. Eventually he was forced to shift his home to Quetta, Balochistan, and then he went to Karachi where he worked as taxi driver for a few months.
In the interview, he says that he was happy that the secular nationalist Pashtoon party, Awami National Party, won the Feb. 18 election and formed government in the province. After the election, according to his own words, Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti, Minister for Education Mian Iftekhar and leaders of the Party invited him back to Peshawar with full honor and advised him to start again his singing career.
Now everyone's favorite Pashto singer is back in the field and the Pakhtoonkhwa government has opened Nashtar Hall for cultural activities. Indeed, it is very good news for the fans of Pashto music and Gulzar Alam.
