Peshawar tragedy: Artists call off performances

Sajjad Ali, Fuzon and Rafi Peer Theatre had performances scheduled for December 16.

KARACHI: In lieu of Peshawar attacks which claimed the lives of more than a 100 school children, several notable Pakistani musicians including Sajjad Ali, have cancelled their performances which were scheduled to take place on Tuesday, December 16th 2014.

Sajjad Ali, who was slated to perform at The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, has postponed his performance to an unspecified date. Instead of a musical concert, the university will only be hosting a dinner.

At least 126 people, most of them children, were killed on Tuesday when Taliban gunmen stormed a school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, taking hundreds of students’ hostage in the bloodiest insurgent attack in the country in years.

Troops surrounded the building and an operation was underway to rescue children still trapped inside, the army said.

Hours into the siege, three explosions were heard inside the military-run high school. An unspecified number of children are still being held hostage in the school according to a provincial official speaking some three hours after the siege began.

“It’s a sad day in the history of Pakistan and as an artist I would feel guilty if I decided to proceed with my performance when such an incident has taken place. As a human being, it is our responsibility that we share their grief and sorrow. This is the least we can do,” Sajjad Ali told The Express Tribune.

The Rafi Peer Theatre has also called off the second day of the International Dance Festival which was due to take place Tuesday.

Nueplex Cinemas will also remain closed on Wed 17th Dec 2014.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th,  2014.

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