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Nazia was poisoned
LONDON: As a judicial investigation into the death of singer
Nazia Hassan was temporarily adjourned in London,
after police told the court they were still carrying out inquiries,
'The News' learnt from highly reliable sources that
the inquiry is based on a statement recorded by Nazia eight days
before her death.

In the dramatic statement, recorded before her lawyers
and several witnesses, Nazia had alleged she was being
subjected to slow poisoning. The contents of this detailed
statement, which stretches over several hours,
were also known to doctors treating Nazia Hassan for her cancer.
In the account, which is narrated at great length,
Nazia has alleged that she was from time to time
given poisonous substances which gradually damaged
her body and internal organs. It has been learnt
that the statement details all the occasions,
since the start of her cancer till the recording of the account,
when Nazia suspected she had been poisoned. along with her
reasons for this suspicion.

Sources also said Nazia Hassan had instructed her lawyers
that in the event of her death, police should be asked
to carry out a full investigation. Her lawyers told
police of these instructions soon after her death
a few days ago in a London Hospital.

The News adds from Karachi: An unabated controversy
erupted on the eve of the arrival of Nazia Hassan's
body in Karachi from London as her father Basir Hassan
claimed that the divorce to Nazia by her husband Mirza
Ishtiaq Baig was final, which was outrightly rejected
on Wednesday by Baig's lawyer Raza Hashmi.

Nazia died of cancer in a London hospital on Sunday morning.
Her body is expected to reach Karachi on Thursday for burial,
according to her family sources. It was not immediately confirmed
that who will receive her body at the Quaid-e-Azam International
Airport. The police sources are mum over the issue.

The body of Nazia Hassan is expected to reach Karachi from London
on August 17 (Thursday), her family sources said.
The arrival of the body was delayed due to non-completion of
formalities on Wednesday, the sources said.

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Source: The News

Nazia loses fight against cancer

LONDON: Nazia Hasan, whose young and melodious voice
stormed the young hearts of millions in the subcontinent
some 20 years ago, lost her battle against cancer in a
north London hospice on Sunday morning. Nazia, in her 30s,
had been suffering from cancer for over four years and was
under constant treatment including chemotherapy.

She was admitted to North Finchley Hospice three days
ago when her condition suddenly deteriorated.
She showed signs of mild recovery on Saturday and it was
thought that doctors would allow her to go home.
But early Sunday morning, her mother, Muneeza Hasan,
was called to the hospital where her daughter had started
coughing heavily at around 9:15am. She died within minutes.

Family sources said Nazia got better after initial treatment
but the killer disease returned some one and half year ago
and spread in the chest region. She was undergoing chemotherapy
for the last eight months and felt better. She had, in recent times,
expressed her determination to beat the malaise that had affected
her body over the years, but that was not to be.

Both, her father, Baseer Hasan, and brother, Zohaib, were in
Karachi and are rushing to London to the rest of the family
members who are still in shock. The decision about her burial
will be taken after her father's arrival but family sources
have pointed to the possibility of sending her body to Pakistan
for burial. The news of Nazia's sudden death has sent shock waves
to almost all the Asian community irrespective of their origin.

While talking to The News, Biddu, the Indian musician who introduced
Nazia to the world of music, said he was devastated.
He said he couldn't believe that such a fresh voice and a
friend had gone. "Nazia was very worried about her married life,
custody of the child but had expressed her determination to fight
the disease. It's very hard to believe that I won't see her again.
" Nazia was the first British Asian girl of Pakistani origin to
make an impact on the Bollywood music industry apart from altogether
sweeping the Pakistani pop scene. she was the first real pop star
of the Indian music.

Gifted as she was, Nazia sprang into stardom with her Indian film
(Qurbani) song "Aap Jesa Koyi Meri Zindagi Mein Aaye".
The song was followed by another hit "Disco Deewane"
which took the young generation of the sub-continent by storm.
The true fame came Nazia and her brother Zohaib's way with
their electrifying songs on the Indian film "Star'.

Nazia Hassan and Zohaib Hassan, who formed a perfect duo together,
then traveled to Pakistan in early 80's and released their first
Volume 'Young Tarang'. The volume contained famous songs like
"Dum Dum Dee Dee Dum Dum". The volume was followed by a few more,
which took their graph further up with several hit songs.
They, along with Alamgir and Muhammad Ali Shahki, could be
called the trend-setters of disco music in Pakistan.

In 1987, EMI released a volume 'Hotline' featuring Nazia
and Zohaib. It contained popular songs "Hum Aur Tum, Tum or Hum'
and "Aisa Kya Hai Paisa'. The brother and sister also made several
appearances on Pakistan Television. Besides performing in 'Silver
Jubilee', the popular star show compered by Anwar Maqsood, Nazia
and Zohaib also performed in a special show, again having Anwar
Maqsood as compere. Their last volume was "Camera Camera"
(released in early 90's), which consisted of such popular and
melodious songs as "Taali De Thale Beh Kay". The song was also
presented by the Pakistan Television and it starred garlanded
Nazia singing in a joyous spring mood.
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Zohaib Hassan:

Ever since the death of Nazia , Zohaib does not find himself
convinced for re-joining music industry , he says that all his
work was for Nazia Hassan , even President Musharraf has asked
him to re-sing but he has no plans to sing once again.
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Nazia’s husband opens up

17th Nov 2000 15.55 IST
By Tanuka Chakraverty

All those stories about Nazia Hassan’s husband poisoning
and ill-treating her before her death have taken a beating,
now that Nazia’s husband, Ishtiaq Baig has opened his mouth
and told the media his side of the story.

According to Ishtiaq, Nazia and he were a happily married
couple. The Hassans, Nazia’s mother especially, never took
a liking to her son-in-law. She resented the fact that Nazia
stopped singing after her marriage. Their only source of income
was from their daughter Nazia’s singing. Even Nazia’s brother
Zoheb disliked his brother-in-law because he thought Ishtiaq
did not allow his sister to sing. Without Nazia, no music company
was willing to sign Zoheb. The Hassans were therefore not earning
any money.

After Nazia’s death, her body lay in the mortuary for several
days because of the tug of war between her husband and her parents.
Though there was no divorce, her parents showed forged evidences of
a divorce between Nazia and Ishtiaq. They are now fighting a battle
of custody over their grandson, Arez.

Istiaq feels that the Hassans want the custody of Arez, not so much
for love and affection, as it is for the money Arez will bring with
himself from his father as maintenance. Ishtiaq is firm this time
and has made all arrangements to obtain custody of his child.
“They kept my wife away from me during her last days, poisoned
her mind with baseless stories about me and now they want to take
my son away from me. Arez is my child and he will stay with me,”
thundered Ishtiaq in an interview.

Whether Arez stays with his father or goes to his mother’s family,
is for the court to decide. What is for sure is that there will be
no more of that refreshing nasal voice washing all this dirt and
bringing light. The beautiful face that lent voice to Zeenat Aman’s
sensuality in ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ lies in deep slumber, not to wake up.

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Nazia Hassan Awardees felicitated

By Vidya Sampat

Remember the hit song Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aaye?
from Qurbani? The song rendered by Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan,
became an instant hit the world over, for all Bollywood lovers.
Another hit Disco diwane? followed and Nazia was one among the
Bollywood. Sadly, she died at a very young age of 35.
The Nazia Hassan awards were instituted in her name, by her parents
who felt that there should be no cultural boundaries and people
who strive to surpass these boundaries should be felicitated.

NRI writer and filmmaker Sangeeta Datta, well known TV personality
Meera Syal, publicity in-charge of Bombay Dreams Suman Buchar,
Sunny Hundal, (Journalist and creator of website: Asians in Media),
Shahid Malik (politics), Salman Asif (Director and Producer),
Ruby McGregor Smith (business), Asad Khan (sport), Amber Sajid
(designer), Reena Bhardwaj (singer), Pinache Khan (performing arts)
Amina Ansari (artist) and Pramela Synnanyk (social work),
were the 13 recipients of the Nazia Hassan Awards for their
outstanding contribution in their respective fields.
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Nazia Hassan, who has died of lung cancer at the age of 35,
revolutionised Asian pop music. A singer of rare expressiveness,
she pioneered the disco revolution in Indian film music in the 1980s.
If Someone Like You Comes Into My Life, the song she sang - as a
15-year-old schoolgirl - in Qurbani (Sacrifice, 1980), was one of
the biggest hits in Bollywood film music. Young Asians in the
sub-continent and Britain took to the dance floors to its tune.

Born into a well-to-do Karachi family, Nazia came as a teenager
to London, where the song was recorded after she had met Bollywood
filmmaker Feroz Khan at a party. She was not a trained singer,
but Feroz, and the London-based composer Biddu, liked the nasal
quality of her voice.

Nazia's association with Biddu brought her into the limelight
on the British Asian pop scene. Together, they brought out the
immensely successful album, Disco Deewane (1981), which, with
its racy songs and harmonious blend of eastern rhythms and western
beats, was number one for more than a year. Overnight, Nazia became
the queen of Asian pop.

Later, she and her brother, Zohaib Hassan, sang in another
Bollywood film, Star. They returned to Pakistan in the early
1980s and released their first album, Young Tarang. Another
album, Hotline, followed in 1987. Nazia's last solo album,
Camera Camera, came out in London in 1992. Though some of
these later albums lacked Nazia's early expressiveness,
they still revealed her joie de vivre.

Nazia, who had a London University law degree, lived most of her
life in Britain, but always returned to her roots in Pakistan.
She was independent, and was never afraid to speak her mind. A
lot of her money was given to charity; she also set up an
organisation to help the poor, and - even at the peak of her
popularity - made special appearances on television shows for
children. She spent a lot of time with young people, educating
them about the dangers of drugs.

She is survived by her husband and son.

• Nazia Hassan, singer, born April 3 1965; died August 13 2000

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Nazia Hassan's Last TV Interview
The below interview was taken literally a few days after Nazia
was released from hospital in 1999 after she temporarily recovered
from cancer illness. She was interviwed by Anita from ZeeTV UK June
1999 in London. It was sadly to be Nazia Hassan's last TV Interview.
Anita: Tell us about your cancer illness

Nazia: Well I've been ill now for about a year so I've been
having treatment for about a year. The thing is that it's the
kind of illness that you have good days and some very bad days
and I had some very scary moments in between but you know I'm
out of hospital now and getting better...hopefully, better everyday.
I'm still having quite a lot of treatment, but I think that's gonna
be around for a while.

Anita:How's the chemotherapy ? It must be quite difficult.

Nazia: Chemotherapy is not an easy treatment to go through so it
takes it's toll physically. You have days when you are very ill
and you come over it...as with everything...you just carry on.

Anita: Has it changed your perceptions of life and does it make you
think that some things important and some things just are not anymore?

Nazia: I think what it does is that it reaffirms that at the back of
your mind everyone I think knows what is important...things like
family things like spending time with people you care about..things
like not getting involved in petty issues and all of those
things...we all know that....but in our day to day lives we tend
to sort of overlook them and forget about things like. When you
are really ill what it does is that it does make you remember what
is important

Anita: Do you look back fondly on those music days. Do you look back
and think that, I'm glad I did it and I wish I were doing it again?
Nazia: Music for me has always been a hobby and i enjoy it very much.
I enjoyed it when I was a child. I'd come home from school and at the
weekends we'd be allowed to do music. I went on to college...of course I have enjoyed music, its been very nice...I was very lucky with the success. Zoheb and I, we were very lucky. We worked very hard with our music but at the same time the kind of reaction we got and the kind of appreciation we got...it's very rare. The knocks you get come from people in the industry, we were children, so we didnt know about contracts...we didnt know about royalty...we didnt know about copyright...we just didnt know.

Anita: ...so you got badly ripped off?

Nazia: Oh Yeah...by everyone! (laughingly) But those are the things
you begin to understand and you learn and I gave up singing about 5
years ago because I finished college and I was moving to New York.
I was starting a new job and I didnt really want to do music for a
while so I wanted a siesta. It was nice and I've enjoyed not doing
it but I didnt expect the publicity to be ongoing...I thought I would
just leave it and Zoheb and I would just fade into the background for
a while. But it hasnt been like that.

Anita: Has he dealt with the intrusion better than you have?

Nazia:I think both of us help each other. Because Zoheb and I are
very very close and its amazing that this in itself has upset people
a lot because we are so strong. I come from a very closely nit family
and we are very close to one another. So we support each other and
thats why I think now we have the ability to look back and laugh.
When we see something in the paper.. we go....'just not read it'
..but it goes on and we support each other a lot.

Anita: Do you have pressure..even now from people who say just one
more album...record one more album?

Nazia: Yeah....virtually everyday! (laughs) I think eventually we
might do something but at the my main goal at the moment is to get
better and I want to fight this battle first and then go doing other
things.

Anita: You must have received a lot of calls...I know we did
(at ZeeTV) we received a lot of calls asking 'how is Nazia Hassan?'
What has been the response of the public when they heard you were ill?

Nazia: ....staggering (emotionally) ...I think....(pauses)..a lot of
the times the doctors kept saying to me that things were very bad and
I'm a firm believer in God. I really kept thinking this is not my
time to die...all of us have to die one day. But I just felt it
wasntt my time yet and I'm telling you...I know it sounds almost
cliched to say but it is the prayers that help and the kind of
wishes and just the outpouring of prayers that I've had.
I think that's really what saved me.

In fact I was reading a 'Reader's Digest' article and it said
there had 2 groups of cancer patients and they found a marked
difference in those who had people who cared about them and
people who believed in prayer, who believed in God and whose
faith was very strong..and I think that's really something real.
I cant thank people enough...The cards and letters and everything
that I have received...I would really love to just thank each and
every person who has done that for me.

Anita: How do you view the future? Do you look far ahead or do you
say one day at a time? How is your perception of the future altered?

Nazia: I want to make as much of everyday as possible.I think you
can get a little too worried about the future, you can worry too
much about dying, worry too much about....what if the disease gets
worse and all of that...but what's important to do is to be as
positive as you can be. I cherish everyday...I just love spending
time with my family. I have a little son ....a 2 year old monster

Anita: I spoke to him over the phone...(laughs)

Nazia: ...yeah..thats his latest thing! (laughs). I love him and
it's wonderful. I've just started a new course and planning to go
back to school. I'm doing my barro exams since I have qualified as
a solicitor. I'm also toying with the idea of doing another
album...so theres that. I have a value for life, and
I think its very important to keep this feeling to enjoy everything

Anita: We talked about your future and i cant let you go without
just once talking about the past again..of all the songs that you
have recorded...the ones that everybody associates with
you.....Which was your own favourite and why?

Nazia: Gosh....I think the first song that I did.I get very
sentimental even now when i hear about it. Because it was the
first so I like that very much....and i think of all the other
songs we did...there is one which my brother wrote...which is
called 'Taali De Thullay'. It's a Punjabi song...the first
Punjabi song I ever done. But I just love it so i think that
would be my favourite.

Anita: Lets hope we have many more in the future, Nazia Hassan
thank you very much for joining us.

Nazia: Thanks Anita.

With courtesy from ZeeTv UK

Click here to view the original discussion.