Pakistan born singer Adnan Sami to perform in Srinagar

Close on to the heels of a musical performance by Kashmiri migrant singer Aabha Hanjura who performed in a show “Saaz-e-Kashmir” at Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) here, the government is planning a mega concert by musician and singer Adnan Sami.

The move is being seen as an initiative to “help the tourism sector which has seen a huge slump during past two years”, reports said.

“Government has decided to organize Adnan Sami musical concert on the banks of the Dal Lake in Srinagar,” said an official, who is part of the group organizing the event.

Reports quoting sources said that the chief secretary is holding a high-level meeting next week to see the arrangements.

According to reports quoting officials the concert will be held on October 7, on the banks of Dal Lake at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre.

Pertinently, last week, Kashmiri singer Aabha Hanjura, a migrant Kashmiri Pandit, attracted a huge audience for her show titled ‘Saaz-e-Kashmir’.

Pakistani born singer Adnan Sami, who has spent more than a decade living in Mumbai, was granted Indian citizenship in 2016.

The 44-year-old singer — whose earlier request for Indian citizenship was rejected some two years back — made his second application to the Foreigners’ Division of the Indian home ministry, which was accepted.

Sami has been living in India on a business and professional visa for many years. In May, 2015 he requested the home ministry to extend his stay on humanitarian grounds. His visa had been previously extended from time to time, but his Pakistani passport was about to expire on May 26. When the Pakistani government refused to renew his passport, he was forced to apply for Indian citizenship.

Sami has also applied for a renunciation of his Pakistani citizenship, but was informed by authorities in November that his documentation remained incomplete.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.