‘Jeevay, Jeevay Pakistan’ singer Shahnaz Begum dies

ISLAMABAD: Renowned singer Shahnaz Begum passed away in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Sunday after suffering a cardiac arrest. She was 67.

She was best known for singing “Sohni Dharti Allah Rakhay” and “Jeevay, Jeevay Pakistan”. During her monumentally influential years as a singer in 1960s and 1970s, Begum tremendously impressed the new generation through her songs. She sang for both Bangladeshi and Pakistani films.

Begum was born on January 2, 1952, in Dhaka. She is survived by her husband and two children. She was a recipient of the Ekushey Padak in 1992 and Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the film Chhutir Phande (1990). Begum emerged as a singer in Dhaka in the mid-1960s and 1970s. Her funeral prayers were to be offered in Dhaka on Sunday.