Rahat Fateh Ali Khan says more secretly recorded videos may emerge in second ‘apology’ video

After severe backlash following a covert video of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan physically abusing someone he later claimed was his student, and a failed apology video that has since been deleted from his Instagram, the qawwal has come forth with another “apology” video.

The singer is alone in the video, which was posted to the account of radio station owner Rehan Siddiq, in contrast to the now deleted ‘apology’ videos where he was accompanied by the victim and his father.

In the “special message”, the ‘Afreen Afreen’ singer first sought forgiveness from God, who “made everyone equal”.

“Being a human, I should not have behaved this way with another person, especially as an artist,” he said.

He then apologised to his family who “have been involved in the qawwali business for 600 years” and gave messages of “love, peace and brotherhood” through their art. Khan also apologised to his “family friends” and “especially” his fans who were hurt because of his behaviour.

Vowing not to repeat his actions, he alleged that the viral video was nine months old and that his old management company — PME Entertainment — which he recently left, had been making these videos without his “permission” for “who knows how long”.

Khan claimed the company had “planned other” videos and began releasing them after his press conference announcing that he would be parting ways with them.

“If they were such advocates of humanity, why didn’t they release the video earlier?” he questioned. He alleged that there were more videos that the company would release in an effort to “defame” him, and that some were “planted” while others were “fabricated”. Khan, however, hoped that their “efforts would be unsuccessful” and his singing career would continue.

The singer continued that he took the experience “positively” because he got to learn from it, and added that he “respected” those who boycotted him because they wanted to “advise” him. He further said that those critiquing his actions “loved” him and did not want to see “their artist” behaving negatively.

He concluded the video by apologising to his fellow artists and music directors. He did not, however, apologise to his victim, Naveed Hasnain, the student whom he physically lashed out at for misplacing a ‘bottle’.

Khan also appeared on Adeel Asif’s podcast where he purported that people were making fun of the ‘bottle’, however, it was “true” that his pir (spiritual guide) had blessed the water and it was in Hasnain’s possession.

“People are not understanding the depth [of the situation]. It’s a spiritual matter between me and my pir and it was a very big thing for me,” he said.

The podcast also included gems from the host such as him saying it would be an “honour” to be hit by Khan, and that people should not interfere in artists’ personal lives and let them hone their crafts.

Let’s be real — physical violence, regardless of who it’s coming from, is NEVER something to look up to and glorify. No one deserves to be humiliated the way Hasnain was; there is a proper way to handle such a situation and even severe consequences for someone’s actions should not include beating someone up. Secondly, anyone who infringes on someone else’s physical autonomy, especially so violently, should face some repercussions, regardless of who they are.

The host should not have placed Khan on a pedestal given the controversy surrounding him, nor should he have been so casual with his comments.

Prior to his recent apology video, a series of videos were posted and then deleted from Khan’s official Instagram page in which he claimed the bottle contained blessed water.

Addressing the video, Khan said it was a private issue between a teacher and a student. Identifying the student and his father, he said, “The relationship between a teacher and student is such that when he does well, we give him that much love and when he does wrong, we punish him”.

Hasnain said the bottle contained water blessed by a spiritual leader and that he had forgotten where he put it at the time. “God only knows how much love he [Khan] shows us,” he said, calling the video an attempt to blackmail and defame his teacher.

He denied that the incident was an incident of abuse. Khan claimed that he asked for Hasnain’s forgiveness then and there after beating him up.

Once again, he did not once publicly apologise to Hasnain but has released several irrelevant, half-hearted videos.