January 28, 2024
Pakistani folk singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, whose video has gone viral in which he can be seen slapping and assaulting a band member, is an ambassador of British Asian Trust which tackles domestic violence, Daily Mail reported.
The anti-violence charity, which was founded by King Charles III, has issued a statement concerning the grave matter, saying: "We take all accusations of abuse seriously and we will look into this urgently."
The footage shows Rahat attacking a man with slaps, kicks and even his shoes, while the person pleaded with him to stop. The attack happened in Houston, Texas, last year.
Taking the seriousness of the matter into account, Rahat responded to the controversy on Saturday night and issued a clarification that the matter was not the same in reality as apparent in the video.
Meanwhile, the man, who is said to be his student said that the “bottle” mentioned in the viral video contained the water given by the spiritual leader which he had misplaced.
“He is [like] my father, my teacher. God knows how much he loves us. Whoever has done this, is simply blackmailing my teacher to defame him,” he added.
"The video is an internal matter of a teacher and a student. We do love a student over a good deed, as well as punish him if he commits a mistake," the star singer said in a video statement issued on his official Instagram account.
"I forgot a bottle of water which was given by my pir (spiritual healer). I also apologised to my student at the same time," he said referring to the "student" as Naveed Husnain.
In a separate video, Husnain said that Rahat had apologised to him for whatever happened between them due to which, he was now "embarrassed". He further stated that Rahat is his teacher and "can do whatever he wants" with him.
Rahat has also met King Charles as the trust's ambassador. It was founded by Charles in 2007 to tackle poverty and build community relations.
He is considered the greatest living singer of a genre of music famous in Pakistan called Qawwali, which has its origins in the poetry and music of Islamic mystics, known as Sufis.