Pakistan’s pop pioneer-turned-preacher killed in plane crash

Junaid Jamshed shot to fame in the late 1980s as lead singer of the boy band Vital Signs, where his dashing looks and brooding vocals made him a style icon and heart-throb for a generation emerging from the harsh Islamist rule of military dictator Zia-ul-Haq.

File photo from August 1, 2013 showing Pakistani television show host Junaid Jamshed presenting an Islamic quiz show Shan-e-Ramadan in Karachi. Jamshed, a pioneer of Pakistani pop who became a Muslim evangelist, was among 47 people killed in a plane crash on December 8, 2016. Asif Hassan/AFPShow less

ISLAMABAD // Junaid Jamshed, a pioneer of Pakistani pop who renounced music to become a Muslim preacher and started one of the country’s most successful clothing boutiques was among 47 people killed in Wednesday’s plane crash.

The 52-year-old died alongside his second wife, Nahya, and is survived by his first wife Ayesha and four children.

Born in Karachi on September 3, 1964, Jamshed shot to fame in the late 1980s as lead singer of the boy band Vital Signs, where his dashing looks and brooding vocals made him a style icon and heart-throb for a generation emerging from the harsh Islamist rule of military dictator Zia-ul-Haq.

The band’s fusion of western guitar-driven pop set to traditional Tabla beats inspired a new genre – Sufi Rock – that is hugely popular throughout South Asia today.

Their greatest hit, Dil Dil Pakistan, an upbeat ode to the homeland with a synthesizer-heavy 1980s sound, remains an unofficial national anthem.

Many of his biggest fans became critics when in the early 2000s he left his career in pop to become a member of the Tableeghi Jamaaat, a Sunni evangelical group that preaches its austere brand of Islam throughout the world.

Jamshed abandoned his leather jackets and stone-washed jeans for traditional tunic and baggy trousers. He grew a beard and began recording religious ‘Naats’ – hymns that are sung a capello, because instruments are seen as forbidden.

Pakistani progressives’ disappointment only grew as Jamshed made a series of controversial statements, often targeting women, including famously telling a female TV host that women should not be allowed to drive or leave the home without male guardians.

But his new guise also endeared him to religious conservatives who followed his TV appearances closely and regarded him as a role-model for leaving a decadent lifestyle behind.

In 2014, he found himself embroiled in controversy for appearing to criticise one of the Prophet Mohammed’s wives in one of his sermons, prompting a blasphemy case against him.

He issued a tearful apology and the case was not pursued – his strong connections with the country’s religious right seemingly shielding him from the persecution minorities often face when charged or even accused of the same crime.

In addition to his preaching, Jamshed set up a upmarket clothing boutique in 2002, a highly profitable business that today boasts a strong presence across the country.

In his last tweet, he posted pictures of himself with fellow preachers in scenic northern Chitral, from where the ill-fated Pakistan International Airlines flight 661 made its final journey.

“Heaven on Earth Chitral. With my friends in the Path of Allah,” he tweeted.

His death was mourned by clerics, politicians and music fans.

“Gutted by reports of JJ’s untimely demise. His voice expressed the emotions of a whole generation in the 1990s. RIP,” tweeted cultural critic Nadeem Farooq Paracha.

* Agence France-Presse