Noted Tabla player passes away

PESHAWAR: The noted Tabla player, Waliddad Ustad, died at the age of 69, here on Tuesday due to multiple health complications.

He left behind a widow and seven children to mourn his death. He was laid to rest in Akhund Baba graveyard near Rahman Baba shrine where a large number of local artistes, writers and fans of late Ustad attended his Namaz-i-Janaza.

Late Walidad Ustad was recipient of many local awards but unfortunately, his name was dropped from the list of nominees every year for the ‘Pride of Performance’ award due to his humble family background. He had performed numerous programmes for the state-run TV and radio channels and hundreds of Pashto movies. Born in 1949 in Par Hoti in Mardan district, family of Walidad had been shifted to Peshawar in search of better prospects during early 60s.

Walidad had been to US, UK, Germany, Afghanistan and all Gulf countries on several occasions to represent Pakistan and had also performed Tabla with Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali, Madam Noor Jahan and almost all top Pashto maestros including Khial Mohammad, Gulnar Begum, Mashooq Sultana, Kishwar Sultana, Hidayatullah, Gulzar Alam, Qamar Gula and Shah Wali Afghan.

Nasirdad and Qasirdad – the sons of Walidad Ustad – have expressed the hope that KP government would include name of their legendary father in the list of nominees for the President’s award ‘Pride of Performance’ posthumously. Maaz Khan Ustad, a noted Tabla artiste, said that Walidad Ustad was one of the few artistes who had transferred his art to at least two of his sons one each Tabla player and Keyboard artiste.

“Walidad Ustad had trained hundreds of Tabla artistes in KP and loved Pakistan so much that despite offers, he didn’t stay in US or any European country,” he remarked. Ustad Nazeer Gul said that Walidad Ustad could play wonderful notes and it had made him different from his contemporaries.