World famous qawwal Amjad Sabri’s brother earlier yesterday clarified he did not receive any threats from anyone.
“My brother never received any threats,” Amjad’s brother Sarwat Sabri said while speaking to the media in Karachi. Sarwat arrived in Karachi from London earlier today to attend his brother’s funeral.
Acclaimed Sufi singer and qawwali maestro Amjad Sabri was shot dead by motorcycle-borne gunmen in a central Karachi neighbourhood earlier yesterday, triggering an outpouring of grief nationwide.
Funeral prayers of Sabri will be offered today at Furqania Masjid Liaqatabad after Zuhr prayers, followed by his burial at Paposhnagar graveyard, Nazimabad.
The targeted killing came two days after masked men kidnapped the son of Sindh’s top judge from outside Agha’s supermarket in broad daylight in an upscale locality of the city.
Sabri, aged around 45, was travelling from his home to a television studio to attend an iftar transmission, when a motorcycle pulled up alongside his white coloured Honda Civic and the two riders opened fire, according to police.
Earlier, MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar and colleagues said Sabri was receiving life threats, but the Karachi police spokesperson said the qawwali maestro had never reported any threats.
Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah suspended a DSP and an SHO over the high-profile killing, while the MQM announced three-day mourning across the province.
Sabri’s killing was met with shock and condemnation. Friends, artistes, singers and fans congregated outside his home to offer condolences to his family, while TV channels broadcast recordings of his music in tribute.
The tragic killing left the family devastated. “My brother never wronged anyone. Why he was killed?” Sabri’s younger brother Talha Sabri said choking on his tears. “The Rangers and police have failed [to maintain peace] in Karachi,” he added. “If a person like my brother can be killed like this, what worst we can expect in this city.”
PM Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the assassination of Sabri and directed the concerned to find the culprits and bring them to book. According to his office, the prime minister paid tribute to the services of the late Amjad Sabri for promotion of qawwali.
Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid on Thursday said Sabri was known as the ambassador of love and peace who united people for a cause. “His killers will receive their due punishment,” he said.
Addressing the media, Rashid said that every section of the society has suffered during the ongoing war against terror.
