Rahat’s discordant note

Never before has Rahat Fateh Ali Khan been so much in the news. The prestigious Filmfare trophy for the Best Singer was last won by a Pakistani 20 years ago when Nazia Hasan bagged it for her pop number ‘Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aye’ that she recorded for Feroz Khan’s Qurbani. Rahat is the only Pakistani to have been nominated for two numbers in the same year. His song Sajda was a hot contender but as the trophy could only be given to one number, it was ‘Dil to bacha hai ji’ from Ishqiya, which earned Rahat the coveted award. So, Rahat competed successfully not only with the likes of Shafqat Amanat Ali, Adnan Sami Khan and Mohit Chauhan but also with himself.

However, no news gets you more popularity than bad news. Rahat hit the headlines when he was detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi for carrying a whopping US $124,000. The amount was not declared, hence it was confiscated. He had to pay Indian Rs 1.5 million as fine. Mind you the Indian rupee is valued more than its Pakistan counterpart. Hence the question: where did he get such a large amount from to pay as penalty?

On reaching home, Rahat Ali Khan is reported to have said that he was unaware of the relevant law. If that’s true, one may think that he is at best, naïve and at worst, issuing a statement that is far from true. Even small sums earned by foreigners are subject to 33 per cent income tax. I am saying this from personal experience as the advance royalty that I have received from a book to be published in India (the sum is a minute fraction of what our singers bring back home) was sent to me legally after deducting one-third the amount as income tax.