Shafqat Amanat Ali blames technical glitch for national anthem gaffe

Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali, who is faced criticism for forgetting lines of Pakistan’s national anthem at the India-Pakistan match in Kolkata has said that the blunder occurred due to weather.

The popular Pakistani singer was ridiculed on social media for ‘forgetting lyrics’ of Pakistan’s national anthem. Many also assumed that he brought ‘bad luck’ to the cricket team, which eventually lost the match to India on Saturday.

The famous states that only weather can be blamed for the ‘technical problem’ that played spoilsport in the ‘great moment’.

“The only thing which is to be blamed was weather as it rained a lot on Saturday and it upset the whole schedule… We couldn’t do anything with the rain, due to which we couldn’t do an audio check (before the performance) and I was not aware of the problem waiting for me out there,” Ali told the media in New Delhi on Monday.

The ‘Manchala’ singer says people should respect artiste and was upset about being ‘abused’.

“People who unknowingly criticise us (artistes) for any mishap, should be asked why are they doing so. Such people should understand one thing that an artiste’s art is a public property, but that artiste is not. His voice and his talent is a public property, but that man is not,” Ali said.

“I can do it too, but I feel that that there are a lot of other ways to express your emotions than abusing. These people do it for attention,” he said, adding that he would not want to criticise anyone for whatever happened.

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who had sung the Indian national anthem at the opening ceremony of the match at the Eden Gardens, also invited legal trouble. A short filmmaker filed a police complaint against him for singing ‘the national anthem in 1 minute 10 seconds while the mandatory time is 52 seconds’.