Rubina Qureshi, TI ( sd, روبينہ قريشي; also ''Rubeena''; 19 October 1940 – 13 July 2022) was a Pakistani

Sindhi language Sindhi ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status. It is also spoken by a further 1.7 million people in India, where it is a scheduled language, withou ...

folk singer. She was popularly known as ''Nightingale of Sindh'' as she performed most of her songs in Sindhi, Urdu, Punjabi and Saraiki languages.

Early life

Rubina was born on 19 October 1940 in Hyderabad, Sindh,

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

(now Pakistan). Her maiden name was Aisha Shaikh and her father's name was Illahi Bux Shaikh. Though she did not belong to a typical singer's family, her brother Abdul Ghafoor Shaikh was a local singer. She started singing in school functions and events when she was studying in a primary school. Educationist and musician Dadi Leela Wati encouraged and inspired her singing. On 17 August 1955, Radio Pakistan Hyderabad was established. The administration of this newly established Radio Station wrote letter to all major schools of Hyderabad for introducing talented boys and girls on the Radio. Rubeena was studying in class IX, when she gave audition at Radio Pakistan Hyderabad as a child singer. Broadcaster M. B. Ansari and musician and singer

Master Muhammad Ibrahim Master Muhammad Ibrahim ( sd, استاد محمد ابراهيم) was a Sindhi-language classical singer. Early life and career Muhammad Ibrahim was born on 13 June 1920 in Siliya village in the Kutch district of Gujarat, British India. He migra ...

took her audition. She passed audition in the first attempt. Her first Sindhi song recorded for Radio was "Paren pawadee san, chawandi san, rahi waj rat bhanbhor men" ( Sindhi: پيرين پوندي سان چوندي سان، رهي وڃ رات ڀنڀور ۾). Along with her singing career, she studied at the

University of Sindh The University of Sindh ( ur, ; sd, سنڌ يونيورسٽي; informally known as Sindh University) is a public research university in Pakistan located in the city of Jamshoro. It is one of the oldest universities in Pakistan and was certif ...

and received the Master of Arts degree in Muslim History. She served as a high school teacher in the Himat-ul-Islam Girls High School Hyderabad in 1967–68.

Contributions

She also sang many marriage songs called "Sahera" along with her fellow singers

Zarina Baloch Zarina Baloch ( sd, زرينه بلوچ) (29 December 1930 – 25 October 2005) was a Pakistani folk music singer, vocalist and composer. She was also an actress, Radio and TV artist, writer, teacher for over 30 years, political activist and so ...

, Amina and Zeb-un-Nissa. These sehra are still popular in all over Sindh. She also sang as a

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

of some

Sindhi films Sindhi cinema ( sd, سنڌي سينيما) refers to the Sindhi language film industry in Sindh, Pakistan and among the Sindhi diaspora. History The first Sindhi film produced was ''Ekta'' in 1940 directed by Homi Wadia and the last film wa ...

including Ghoonghat Lah Kunwar ( Sindhi: گهونگهٽ لاھ ڪنوار) and Sassi Punhoon ( Sindhi: سسئي پنهون). After her marriage to famous Film and TV actor Mustafa Qureshi in 1970, she shifted to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest ...

with her husband. In Lahore she got music lessons from Chhottay Ghulam Ali. In Lahore, she also sang in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

, Seraiki,

Pushto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

and

Bangali Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of S ...

. She was the first woman artist who took part in strengthening Pak-China relations. The late Z A Bhutto sent her to China where she sang in the Chinese language. She also went to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

to perform for her country. She received praise from Radio Pakistan Hyderabad (2012). The Government of Pakistan announced Tamgha-i-Imtiaz for her on 14 August 2021.

Death

Qureshi died on 13 July 2022 in Karachi. She was laid to rest in the Abdullah Shah Ghazi compound. She was survived by her husband Mustafa Qureshi, a son, film actor Aamir Qureshi, and a daughter, Arabella.بلبل مھراڻ روبينا قريشيءَ جي ساھ جو سڳو ٽٽي پيو. سرن جي دنيا سوڳوار, Daily Ibrat Hyderabad. Dated 14 July 2022. p. 01

Awards and recognition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Qureshi, Rubina 1940 births 2022 deaths People from Hyderabad, Sindh Pakistani classical singers Women ghazal singers Urdu-language singers Bengali-language singers Sindhi people Sindhi-language singers Pashto-language singers Pakistani radio personalities Pakistani women singer-songwriters Pakistani singer-songwriters Punjabi-language singers Pakistani folk singers Pakistani playback singers Pakistani ghazal singers Performers of Sufi music Recipients of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz 20th-century Pakistani women singers 20th-century Pakistani singers 21st-century Pakistani women singers 21st-century Pakistani singers