Singer Sahir Ali Bagga has revealed that renowned singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan refused to sing a song to pay tribute to the martyred children of Army Public School (APS) Peshawar, after which he sang the said song to his young son.
He recently appeared in the Sama TV program, where he discussed the anthems for the Pakistan Army.
“After the martyrdom of children in the Army Public School in Peshawar, when the ISPR asked him to compose a song on the tragedy, he first approached Rahat Fateh Ali Khan,” he recalled.
Bagga added that Rahat Fateh Ali Khan had taken the composed song, along with the money, but later, he refused to sing it.
“Rahat Fateh Ali Khan called me and apologised for not singing the song. He told me that he was feeling scared,” he said.
“I felt sorry after Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s refusal and vowed that I would now do a bigger job than Rahat Fateh Ali Khan,” he claimed.
“I was also very sad because of the Army Public School tragedy, and then I suddenly thought of my school-going son and sang the song to him,” he added.
“It was only after Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s refusal that I had my son Azaan sing ‘Bara Dushman Bana Phirta Hai,’ and after that, I also had him sing the second song, ‘Humain Dushman Ke Bachon Ko Parhana Hai,’” Bagga said.
Although he claimed that Rahat Fateh Ali Khan agreed to sing the song and received money for it and later denied it, Bagga did not clarify whether Khan returned the money to him or not.
He also did not clarify what happened to the copy of the song sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
The songs were released in 2015 after the December 2014 terrorist attacks on the Army Public School Peshawar and were well received.
