‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ fame singer died in plane crash
Dubai: Junaid Jamshed became household name in Pakistan when he sang ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ song in 1987 as a lead singer of pop band Vital Signs. The song became so popular that it was hailed as an unofficial national anthem of Pakistan due to its patriotic lyrics.
The news of Jamshed’s death along with his wife Ayesha Junaid in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash on Wednesday, shocked the nation. The flight crashed while flying from Chitral – a picturesque city amid snow peaked mountains in the north of Pakistan – to Islamabad. He was in Chitral on a preaching trip.
Picture from the crash site of PIA PK661 Twitter
“Heaven on Earth Chitral. With my friends in the Path of Allah,” was Junaid Jamshed’s last tweet on December 4.
Heaven on Earth Chitral.
— Junaid Jamshed (@JunaidJamshedPK) December 4, 2016
With my friends in the Path of Allah . Snowpacked Tirchmir right behind us pic.twitter.com/ZajcWEKlrG
Jashmed, 52, was Pakistan’s iconic singer turned preacher and fashion designer. He launched is fashion clothing range J. in 2004 to supplement his income after quitting singing. He opened his first brand outlet in Dubai in 2010 followed by two outlets in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in 2011 under UAE based Alif Investments Group. His clothes line caters to both men and women and is quite popular amongst Pakistani community around the world.
His outlets in the UAE were closed soon after the news of his death. “We don’t know when we will reopen as we are mourning the death of our brother Junaid,” Asif Jabbar, owner of Alif Investment told Gulf News from Karachi where has gone to Jamshed’s house for condolence.
Junaid made headlines in Pakistan once again when he denounced singing in 2004, and announced to devote his life to Islam.
Jamshed was also a popular preacher on television. He also faced life threats and a blasphemy case was registered against him in 2014 as he was booked over one of his televised sermons that was thought to contain blasphemous remarks about a wife of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Although he publically apologised for any mistake he made, he had to go in hiding for some time for fear of his life. He was also once beaten by a group of people at the airport in Islamabad for the same reason. Jamshed was also actively involved in charity work and has been associated with the NGO Muslim Charity since 2003.
