Daily Times

Veteran Pashto folk singer Hidayatullah passed away after a prolonged illness. He had been bedridden since long owing to multiple health complications, including memory loss, causing him to confine to loneliness as his fans had stopped visiting the popular artist of yore days. Known as Mohammad Rafi of Pashto, Hidayatullah was born in 1940 at Dag Besood, Nowshera district. Later his family shifted to Peshawar where he passed matriculation examination from Edwardes High School there. Hidayatullah adopted employment in 1960 in the agriculture department and got retirement as senior clerk in year 2000. Hidayatullah sang tracks for many hit Pashto flicks and limited his performance only to film, radio and TV. He was the recipient of the President’s Award for Pride of Performance and numerous other awards from cultural organisations.