Ibrar Ahmed
Quetta: In mid-February, Javed Karar was sipping tea at a local hotel in the main bazaar of Nushki Town, when He received a call. The man talking from the other side introduced himself as Ghulam Ali from Khuzdar and requested Javed to perform at his brother`s marriage ceremony to be held on the next day.
Javed Karar, 24, and his friend Sohaib Farhad are singers and they perform at local wedding ceremonies. “We have been performing for the last 10 years and this is our source of livelihood,” Kakar told Balochistan Voices. This duo had performed in many districts of Balochistan throughout their career.
The next day Javed and Sohaib left for Khuzdar along with Abdul Qayum (Drummer) and Shabir Mengal (Taxi driver) to perform at the wedding ceremony. The hosts sent them five thousand rupees in advance and told them that the rest of the payment will be made when the artists reached Khuzdar.
The hosts were in touch with the artists throughout the journey and upon reaching Surab they asked them to wait there and said we will go ahead together.
After a while, the hosts called the artists and directed them to come to the nearest fuel pump. “Shortly after reaching fuel station few gunmen wearing masks cordoned our car and started beating us,” said Karar. He added that the gunmen shoved us into their cars like an animal and they wrapped our faces with cloths and shifted us to an unknown place.
Later that day, news circulated on social media that four local artists have been kidnapped from the Surab area. Based on this news the district administration Khuzdar and police authorities started search for the kidnapped artists.
While local administration was searching the hostages, the kidnappers were brutally torturing them. “They kept on repeatedly thrashing us despite our questions that why are you beating us in the first place,” narrated Karar.
To their surprise, the artists were released by the kidnappers after holding them for four days. “We were released near a levies check-post in Dasht Goran area of district Kalat,” said Karar.
Upon reaching the Levies check-post, the artists were provided a place to stay and arrangements were made for their transportation back home. “We appreciate the way levies personnel treated us when we reached their check-post,” claimed Karar.
The artists did not lodge a case against anyone because they consider it a blessing that they were left alive by the mysterious kidnappers.
The local artists have been targeted in Balochistan in recent times. Last year Muhammad Saqib Ghulamani was killed near Jahalwan complex Khuzdar. Last month, Balochi singer Sagheer Shad was killed by unknown armed men in the Pasni area of district Gwadar.
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