Family feud may cost dear to Bismillah Khan’s legacy
VARANASI : The demolition of the coping of the room in which shehnai maestro Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan used to do ‘riyaz’ (practice) daily, has drawn widespread reactions and calls for conservation of the maestro’s legacy. To note, there is a family feud over the house as some of Ustad’s kin wish to build a commercial complex at the site.
Sibtain Hussain, the son of ustad’s eldest son Mehtab Hussain, wants to reconstruct the house as it is dilapidated. Ustad’s two sons Nazim Hussain and Kazim Hussain, his daughters Zareena Begum and Azra Begum and his other grandson Afaq Haider raised objections to the demolition and reconstruction of the house.
Haider said, “The legacy of ustad should be preserved and the room should be converted into a memorial.”
Ustad Bismillah Kham had five sons, Mehtab Hussain, Naiyyar Hussain, Nazim Hussain, Zamin Hussain and Kazim Hussain and two daughters. There are around 60 members in the family.
VARANASI: The demolition of the coping of the room in which shehnai maestro Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan used to do ‘riyaz’ (practice) daily, has drawn widespread reactions and calls for conservation of the maestro’s legacy.
To note, there is a family feud over the house as some of Ustad’s kin wish to build a commercial complex at the site.
The maestro used to do ‘riyaz’ (practice) daily in a room on the third floor of his house in Bhikhamshah lane of Benia Bagh here till he breathed his last in 2006. He lived in the same room. Its walls were decorated with different awards and citations the legendry maestro received in his time.
Now Sibtain Hussain, the son of the ustad’s eldest son Mehtab Hussain, wants to reconstruct the house as it is dilapidated. To start the reconstruction, all awards and photos were removed from the third floor room and coping of the room was demolished.
Ustad’s two sons Nazim Hussain and Kazim Hussain, his daughters Zareena Begum and Azra Begum and his other grandson Afaq Haider raised objections to the demolition and reconstruction of the house. Haider said, “The legacy of ustad should be preserved and the room should be converted into a memorial.”
Ustad Bismillah Kham had five sons, Mehtab Hussain, Naiyyar Hussain, Nazim Hussain,
Zamin Hussain and Kazim Hussain and two daughters. There are around 60 members in the family. Mehtab Hussain and Naiyyar Hussain passed away several years ago.
Ustad’s grandson Afaq Haider said Khan’s other grandson Sibtain Hussain had planned reconstruction of the house for commercial purpose and wanted to build shops on the ground floor.
Ustad’s sons Kazim Hussain and Nazim Hussain were against the construction of shops by demolishing the house. “We want that the room of Ustad should be preserved as a museum,” Haider said.
Nazmi Firoza, wife of Sibtain Hussain who planned reconstruction of the house, said, “The room and the entire house is in a dilapidated condition due to which citations and awards received by the Ustad from all over the world are getting damaged. Therefore, new construction has been planned and awards and belongings of Ustad have been shifted to a safe room. All the awards and belongings of Ustad are safe. There is a plan to construct shops on the ground floor and a room on upper floor. After construction, the upper room will be made a museum in which all citations, awards and other things belonging to the maestro would be preserved.” Calls to preserve legacy
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted on Wednesday that the government should protect and preserve the place where Bismillah Khan used to do ‘riyaz’ (practice) daily.
Noted vocalist Padma Shri Rajeshwar Acharya also said that the heritage of Ustad Bismillah
Khan should be preserved. Noted singer Anoop Jalota said that the Ustad gave a new identity to shehnai across the world.
VDA serves notice
A team of Varanasi Development Authority visited the house and served a notice to Sibtain Hussain, asking him to take permission
from the Nagar Nigam for demolishing the dilapidated house and get map passed from VDA before starting new construction.