Web Desk
Renowned Indian artist Manjit Singh Gill has paid homage to celebrated Pakistani folk singer Shaukat Ali, who died earlier this month, with a realistic sculpture.
The Pakistani legend had passed away at the age of 77 on April 2 after prolonged liver illness in the eastern city of Lahore.
Manjit Singh Gill, based in Moga city in Indian Punjab, has made what appears to be a larger-than-life-size bust of Shaukat Ali to honour him and his works.
The Pakistani singer been equally popular in Chadhda Punjab, or East Punjab in India, according to report of Indian newspaper, The Indian Express report, which came just two days after the singer’s death.
Ali’s death was also mourned in India’s Punjab, where he — along with Dil Mohammad, a Pakistani teacher of Punjabi in Gurmukhi script — were highly regarded, English newspaper, The News reported.
The Pakistani singer was one of the “veteran personalities known for their extraordinary work in promoting Punjabi folk music, language, and culture”, the Indian publication added, noting that Gill’s artwork was installed at a park in Ghal Kalan village in India’s Moga city.
In its report, it quoted his son, Imran Ali, as saying the singer had liver cirrhosis since almost a year back and was being treated since then.
“He had recovered but four months back his condition again deteriorated and his liver stopped working completely. He died at a hospital in Lahore Friday,” Imran Ali said.
Ali sang his first song — “Pagdi Utaar Chora” — in 1962 and was honoured with a silver jubilee award for it, his son added.
According to Geo TV, Gill has also made statues of world-renowned philanthropist and humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi — who passed away in 2016 — and Punjabi poet Baba Najmi (Bashir Husain Najmi) in the past.
