Rubina Qureshi

Rubina Qureshi was a Pakistani singer, best known for her folk songs in the Sindhi and Urdu languages. She was born in Hyderabad, British India, in 1940. She was the daughter of Illahi Bux Shaikh, an educationist who was involved in developing the modern education system for Sindh province. She moved to Hyderabad, Sindh, with her family after the partition of India in 1947. She studied at the Government College for Women in Hyderabad, and later at the University of Sindh in Jamshoro. She began singing in school functions and events when she was studying in a primary school. Educationist and musician Dadi Leela Wati encouraged and inspired her singing. She started her singing career at Radio Pakistan Hyderabad in 1955, when she was in class IX. She passed the audition in the first attempt and recorded her first Sindhi song, "Paren pawadee san, chawandi san, rahi waj rat bhanbhor men". She also sang in Urdu, Punjabi, Saraiki, Pushto and Bangali languages. She was influenced by the writings and music of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Sachal Sarmast, and Shaikh Ayaz. She also sang many marriage songs called "Sahera" along with her fellow singers Zarina Baloch, Amina and Zeb-un-Nissa. These sehra are still popular in all over Sindh. She also sang as a playback singer of some Sindhi films including Ghoonghat Lah Kunwar and Sassi Punhoon. She married Zafar Ali Ujan, a leftist political activist, in 1971, and moved to Lahore with her husband. In Lahore she got music lessons from Chhottay Ghulam Ali. She continued to sing and perform in various national and international events. She was the first woman artist who took part in strengthening Pak-China relations. The late Z A Bhutto sent her to China where she sang in the Chinese language. She also went to Indonesia, Turkey, India, United Kingdom and United States to perform for her country. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020 and underwent treatment at Agha Khan Hospital in Karachi. She could not survive and died in her residence in Karachi on 13 July 2022, at the age of 81. She was buried in the compound of Abdullah Shah Ghazi's tomb in Karachi. She received several awards and honors for her musical contributions, including the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 2021, the Kamal-e-Fun Award in 2013, and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Karachi Literature Festival in 2017. She is regarded as one of the most influential and respected singers in the history of Pakistani music.