Pak singer's concert in Hyderabad curtailed
Pakistani exponent of Sufi music Rahat Fateh Ali Khan could hardly sing for one hour to ring in the New Year in Hyderabad. With technical glitches in regard to his travel papers he had to spend hours flying to Delhi after landing in Hyderabad and then arriving back in this city by a chartered plane. It all happened with Fateh Ali Khan directly landing in Hyderabad from Abu Dhabi for his music programme fixed at 8 p.m. in the Falaknuma palace. The Customs pointed to him that all Pakistani nationals had to land in any of the metropolitan cities only. There was no way a Pakistani national's travel papers could be processed in Hyderabad. He was asked to go back to Abu Dhabi. It appears someone has intervened meanwhile, and Fateh Ali Khan flew to Delhi, which would have been the correct point of entry for him. From there he took a chartered flight to get back to Hyderabad. As a result, the Sufi singer's concert that was programmed to greet New Year happened after the midnight hour was past. The programme ended at 1 a.m.
