Shattered dreams: Dual national Chahat Fateh Ali's nomination papers rejected

LONDON: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected the nomination papers of singing sensation and comic icon Chahat Fateh Ali Khan over his dual Pakistani and British nationality.

“My dream to stand in the election and then win and serve Pakistan in the National assembly is shattered but I will not give up. I call on the ECP to allow me to run in elections on an exceptional basis,” the British-Pakistan told this reporter over the phone from Lahore.

“This is not fair to overseas Pakistanis like myself,” said the former founder and leader of the Pakistan Development Party (PDP) and British Public Party (BPP).

Chahat – whose real name is Kashif Rana — had reached Lahore from London around six weeks ago for live performances, invited by his fans, but decided to submit nomination papers to have a go at parliamentary politics.

The social media sensation said: “The Returning Officer rejected my nomination papers during the scrutiny process. Every Pakistani can hold dual citizenship according to the constitution and therefore, they should also be allowed to contest the polls. The expatriates contribute a lot to the economy of Pakistan by sending millions of rupees every month, we should be allowed to run in elections too.”

The British-Pakistani internet singing sensation was planning to contest general elections as an independent candidate on February 8 for the National Assembly (NA) seat from Lahore’s NA-128.

“I decided to submit my papers after thousands of my fans voted for me on social media and asked me to take part in Pakistani politics. In several polls, thousands voted for me to become the next prime minister of Pakistan. These voices matter,” said Chahat who has asked their fellow Pakistanis to raise their voices for him.

This is not the first time that Chahat has been involved in politics — his original passion since his college days in Sheikhupura where he played first-class cricket and was a student leader.

He was part of the Lahore team in the 1983-84 season of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. He played two first-class matches. A few years later he moved to the United Kingdom in search of a better future and played club cricket there for 12 years.

Chahat then returned to Pakistan in the late 90s and started his own party called PDP.

He claims he had this party registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) but it was struck off in the following years as Chahat returned to the UK and there was no one left in Pakistan to communicate with the ECP on the party’s behalf.

In 2005, he launched the BPP and got it registered with the UK’s Electoral Commission. In the same year, Chahat stood from Ilford, an East London constituency with a heavy South Asian population, to become a Member of Parliament (MP) in the British Parliament.

Chahat received around 2,000 votes and lost but this didn’t deter him. In the local bodies election, six Pakistanis stood on BPP’s ticket and each received around 600 votes.

He told this reporter he had launched his own BPP to end the two-party hold on British politics.

“I wanted to end the dominance of Labour and Conservative parties. Liberal Democrats are a third party but not that effective. I wanted to bring change in the UK political system and also I wanted to get more representation to spirations to Asians and other minorities.”

He disbanded BPP after failing to make any headway. “I ended my party because I realised it’s difficult to end the two-party system in the UK. I knocked on 4500 doors and worked day and night but then I thought it’s difficult to break the two-party system.”

Chahat then devoted his time to work as a mini-can driver and lived a life of anonymity.

Around five years ago, he requested singer and Qawaal Sohail Salamat to let him become part of his Qawwali band as a clapping-supporting act.

He performed with Sohail Salamat at a local East London wedding and student events at a couple of events before deciding to go solo in his own way.

For the next two years, he struggled to make any mark until one of his social media songs was picked by Geo News and played in the headlines.

Chahat has not looked back ever since.