Rahat Fateh Ali Khan apologizes for assaulting student over missing 'Bottle'

Iconic Pakistani playback and Qawwali singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan issued an apology on Saturday and took ownership of a video that went viral online showing him abusing his pupil. The video caused an outcry over his actions.

A video of the artist acting aggressively on Saturday appeared on social media. It showed him hitting the staffer and utilising shoes to get even over a "bottle" that had gone missing.

etizens' reactions to the singer's video were intense.

Dawn reports that a subsequent, regretful video featuring the singer defended the incident as a "personal matter between a teacher and his student" and named the victim as Naveed Hasnain was made public.

In the same video, Hasnain, who is seen standing next to his master said, the "bottle" is responsible for the controversy in the original video and it "contained water sanctified by a pir," adding, "he had misplaced the bottle and forgotten about it."

"He is my father and my teacher. He loves us a lot too. Whoever has done this act [of leaking the video] is blackmailing to defame my teacher," he added.

Rahat also added that he had asked forgiveness from Hasnain the next instant, Dawn reported.

The singer is Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's nephew and grandson. He also received the Sitara-i-Imtiaz.
In 2019, Oxford University gave him an honorary degree. The institution identified the artist as a 'Pakistani vocalist, mostly of Qawwali,' and credited him with more than 50 albums, over one billion views online, more than 50 title tracks of television serials, and over 100 film songs in both Hollywood and Bollywood.