ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Wednesday directed executive director Lok Virsa to take all the necessary measures for the construction of tomb of late singer Mehdi Hassan.

In a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Federal Education, Professional Training, National Heritage and Culture, the members stressed the need that the Lok Virsa must ensure depiction of cultural heritage in its future plans.

They said that subcontinent’s legendary artist Mehdi Hassan’s tomb shows signs of neglect as it has almost been over eight years since the singer was laid to rest in Karachi’s Mohammad Shah graveyard.

Arguably the greatest ghazal singer ever and one of the finest playback vocalists of the subcontinent, Mehdi Hassan died on June 13, 2012.

Literary giants, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, poet Gulzar, and the singer par excellence Lata Mangeshkar were admirers of his work.

The maestro’s contribution to Pakistani film music was second to none. He lent his voice to more than 300 films, and it is said that in all, he sang more than 5,000 songs.

Back in 2018, when Ustad Mehdi Hassan Khan would have turned 91, Google honoured him with a doodle to mark the maestro’s birthday.

The executive director of the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) Islamabad briefed the committee about details of activities being undertaken by them along with various challenges being faced by them.

The committee was briefed that although the coronavirus badly affected the performance of the institute, it is making all out efforts to develop a linkage with various universities and colleges for promotion of culture and heritage of the country.

The Committee appreciated the briefing on preservation of heritage sites and mapping of the same.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021