Famous guitar teacher shot dead

His career started at Radio Pakistan and he went on to work at PTV and NAPA.

KARACHI:

A well known music composer and guitar player, Qamar Allahditta, was found dead on Thursday morning in his car near Baghul Hilal Hospital, according to the Garden police.

“Allahditta left home [in Rizvia Society] on Wednesday evening and spoke to his family a couple of hours later,” said DSP Muffaqir Adeel. He was in Lyari at around 6:30pm on Wednesday and that was when he appears to have been shot in the head. The motive is unclear.

Allahditta’s son suspects, however, that Lyari gangsters were behind the killing.

The victim was a trustee of Imambargah Baara Imam and the Shah Najaf Association. His funeral prayers were offered at the imambargah and he was laid to rest in Wadi-e-Hussain on Thursday.

Life and career

Qamar Allahditta’s father, Eesa Allahditta, who was also a musician, encouraged him to pick up the guitar at an early age.

It was from the platform of Radio Pakistan that Qamar Allahditta launched his career as a guitar player and from there he went on to play sessions for a number of legendary musicians such as Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali, Abida Parveen and Tina Sani to name a few. This led to work in the Pakistani pop industry and collaborations with artists such as Sajjad Ali, Rahim Shah and Fariha Pevez. One of his memorable solos was performed for Rahim Shah’s first and by far the most popular track “Pehlay tau kabhi kabhi gham tha”. He had worked on albums with Gul Bahar Bano and folk singer Reshma. His programme “Diyar-e-Sukhan” received a PTV award.

He had worked with directors such as Nisar Bazmi, Sohail Rana, Niaz Ahmed, Master Abdullah, Lal Muhammad Iqbal, Zafar Ali, Karim Shahabuddin and Feroz Gul. Allahditta was also became part of PTV Karachi’s “Dekha na tha: A Tribute to Alamgir” in which new and seasoned singers presented remixes of the pop icon’s songs. “He deftly rearranged many of Alamgir’s songs, including those sung by Rahim Shah, Ahmad Jahanzeb and Faakhir,” according to PTV producer, Amjad Hussain Shah.

When legendary guitarist Amir Zaki left the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) in 2006, Allahditta joined to teach. “Qamar saheb made me realize the importance of playing classical music through guitar,” remarked Ahsan Iqbal Bari, a NAPA graduate who has gone on to make a name in the Karachi music industry. “He was a strict teacher but an equally humble person at the same time. We have all heard of musicians who squabble with each other but unlike them, he was known for resolving matters.”

Another student, Asif Sinan, who considered himself close to him, pointed out that Allahditta did a lot of charity work as well. “He helped pay for the dowries of a lot of young girls,” he said. “In a span of four to five years, he taught us what usually take 10 to 15 years. He was a timeless genius.”

For the last four years, Allahditta had been performing on PTV Home’s music programme “Mehfil-e-Shab” every Monday. Its producer, Amjad Hussain Shah, told The Express Tribune that the last programme of Allahditta’s career will be televised next week. In it, he had worked with Asif Mehdi and Tariq Mehdi, the two sons of the king of ghazals. “He was an expert in Eastern music and then gained expertise in Western music.”

Qamar Allahditta is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2012.