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'Thespians don’t die': Pakistani leaders, fans mourn legendary actor Dilip Kumar

Fans of late Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar, who died today in Mumbai at the age of 98, gather outside Dilip's ancestral home in Peshawar, Pakistan, on July 7, 2021. (AFP)
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Updated 08 July 2021
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'Thespians don’t die': Pakistani leaders, fans mourn legendary actor Dilip Kumar

  • Pakistan-born Kumar is widely considered greatest actor in history of Hindi cinema
  • Pakistani PM mourns actor’s death, calls him "most versatile actor of his generation"
Updated 08 July 2021
Sabah Bano Malik

Rawalpindi: Pakistani leaders, celebrities and fans on Wednesday mourned the passing of Dilip Kumar, one of the greatest stars of the golden age of Indian cinema from the 1940s to the 1960s, who died in Mumbai aged 98. 
Kumar, who had a career spanning over 50 years and acted in nearly 60 films, was born Mohammed Yusuf Khan on December 11, 1922, in Peshawar in what was then United India, before independence from British rule and the creation of Pakistan. He was an actor, film producer and philanthropist, as widely revered in Pakistan as he was in India. 
Kumar is survived by his wife, Saira Banu, a top Bollywood leading lady in the 1960s and 1970s.
“With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, few minutes ago,” a family friend of Kumar’s, Faisal Farooqui, posted on the late actor’s official Twitter. “We are from God and to Him we return.”

Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote that he was “saddened” to learn of Kumar’s passing, calling him the “greatest and most versatile actor” of his generation. He also highlighted the actor’s efforts to help raise funds for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, the cancer hospital Khan founded in the 1990s. 
“I can never forget his generosity in giving his time to help raise funds for SKMTH when the project launched.”

President Dr. Arif Alvi also took to Twitter with a message of condolence: “An outstanding actor, a humble man, and a dignified personality.”

Kumar has been credited for bringing a distinct form of method acting and realism to Indian cinema and holds the record for the most Filmfare Award for Best Actor wins. He was also the inaugural recipient of the award.
The New York Times in its obituary called him “the last of a triumvirate of actors who ruled Hindi cinema in the 1950s and ‘60s.”
“In post-independence India, Mr. Kumar and two other stars set about defining the Hindi film hero,” the Times said. “Raj Kapoor reflected the newly minted Indian’s confusion: his signature role was that of the Chaplinesque naïf negotiating a world that was losing its innocence. Dev Anand, known as the Gregory Peck of India, embodied a Western insouciance that still lingered; he became a stylish matinee idol.”
Kumar delved deeply into his characters, “breaking free from the semaphoric silent-movie style of acting popularized by megastars like Sohrab Modi and Prithviraj Kapoor.”
As one of the country’s earliest method actors, he was often compared to Marlon Brando, another early adopter of the technique, even though Kumar credited himself with using the technique first.

Kumar received the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian awards, in 1991, the Dadasaheb Phalke, India’s highest award for cinematic excellence, in 1994, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015. From 2000 to 2006, he served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament.
In 1998, the Pakistani government conferred on him their highest civilian honor, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz - the only Indian to get the award.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said Kumar was loved by millions of people across India, Pakistan and around the world: “Tragedy king will be missed always.”

“A man of all seasons. He will be mourned by millions in India, Pakistan and wherever Indian cinema is followed,” journalist Raza Rumi tweeted:

Ajmal Jami, a special correspondent and talk show host at top TV channel Dunya News, wrote that Kumar would live on in the hearts and memories of all people around the globe who were familiar with Bollywood:

Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi wrote, “A huge loss for Yousuf Khan sahib’s fans from KPK [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan] to Mumbai and across the globe. He lives on in our hearts.”

Senator Faisal Jawad Khan shared a number of photos of Imran Khan and Kumar together and wrote: “Truly a legendary actor, humanitarian. His universal acting style inspired generations of actors.”

Pakistani actors also turned to social media to express their grief.

“Dilip sahib was an institution in himself. Legend would be an understatement. Thespians don’t die. They live on in their work,” actor Adnan Siddiqui wrote. 

Kubra Khan posted a classic black and white shot of the late actor with the words: “They’ll be one more star in the sky tonight.”

Actor Reema Khan shared images of her and Kumar and wrote” “Showbiz all around the world are in a state of shock on the sad demise of the greatest legendary figure. Venerable Dilip Kumar Sahib who will remain alive in the hearts of all the people.”

Kumar did his first film, “Jwar Bhata” in 1944, which tanked. His breakthrough role came in 1949, with “Andaz,” where he played a jilted lover who is caught in a triangle between the woman he loves and her husband.
That role catapulted him to stardom and was the beginning of a decade where he made a career of playing tragic roles.
Bimal Roy’s adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s seminal novel “Devdas” was the turning point in an already successful career, catapulting him to superstardom.
His role as the doomed lover in “Devdas,” earned Kumar the epithet of “tragedy king” — the man who embodied melancholy on screen.
“An institution has gone .. whenever the history of Indian Cinema will be written , it shall always be ‘before Dilip Kumar, and after Dilip Kumar,” legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan said on Twitter.

Kumar said he felt weighed down after years of playing tragic roles. In the late 1950’s, he made a conscious attempt to play more upbeat roles, acting in romantic films like “Madhumati,” “Aan” and “Naya Daur.”
In his later years, although the hits were harder to come by, Kumar retained his stature as India’s first marquee star — the man whose face on a poster was enough for audiences to throng the theaters.
“Dilip Kumar ji will be remembered as a cinematic legend. He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance, due to which audiences across generations were enthralled,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Topics: Pakistan India actor dilip kumar

Asia Cup in limbo after India-Pakistan conflict

Updated 5 sec ago
Reuters
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Asia Cup in limbo after India-Pakistan conflict

  • India are scheduled to host T20 Asia Cup tournament in September this year
  • Strained ties worsened after intense fighting between India, Pakistan in May
Updated 5 sec ago
Reuters

NEW DELHI, India: This year’s Asia Cup hangs in the balance following the recent clashes between tournament hosts India and arch-rivals Pakistan.

Already-soured relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors further worsened after four days of intense fighting before a ceasefire was announced last month.

India are scheduled to host the Asia Cup, a flagship event of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), in September but uncertainty lingers over the T20 tournament.

“To be honest, we have had no discussions within the board about the Asia Cup,” a top official of the Indian cricket board (BCCI) told Reuters on Tuesday, refusing to confirm whether the tournament will go ahead as scheduled.

“We have been busy with the Indian Premier League and then we have India’s tour of England. These are our immediate concerns,” he added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was not forthcoming about its team’s participation in the tournament in India either.

“We will cross that bridge when we come to it,” the PCB told Reuters in a statement.

ACC president Mohsin Naqvi, who also heads the PCB, was not available to comment.

The ACC on Monday announced the postponement of the women’s Emerging Asia Cup, which was due to begin on Friday, citing weather conditions and the spread of the viral disease chikungunya in host nation Sri Lanka.

India will host the women’s 50-overs World this year but Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka under an arrangement made by the International Cricket Council.

India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy this year and played all their matches, including the March 9 final, in Dubai.

Bilateral cricket has been suspended since 2013 between the Asian neighbors, who play each other only in multi-team events.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir is against playing Pakistan even in neutral venues but will follow whatever the BCCI decided, he said last month.

Topics: asia cup Pakistan India Ties Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)

ADB approves $800 million program to support Pakistan’s public finance reforms

Updated 39 min 12 sec ago
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ADB approves $800 million program to support Pakistan’s public finance reforms

  • ADB says the package will support tax reforms and digitalization to help boost fiscal sustainability
  • It includes a $500 million guarantee to help Pakistan unlock up to $1 billion from commercial banks
Updated 39 min 12 sec ago
Ismail Dilawar

KARACHI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday approved an $800 million financing package for Pakistan to help the country improve fiscal sustainability, strengthen public financial management and support economic reforms.

The funding, part of the Improved Resource Mobilization and Utilization Reform Program (Subprogram 2), includes a $300 million policy-based loan and ADB’s first-ever policy-based guarantee of up to $500 million, which is expected to help Pakistan raise as much as $1 billion from commercial banks.

“Pakistan has made significant progress in improving macroeconomic conditions,” ADB’s Country Director for Pakistan, Emma Fan, said in a statement. “This program backs the government’s commitment to further policy and institutional reforms that will strengthen public finances and promote sustainable growth.”

The program supports reforms to tax policy, administration and compliance, along with improvements in public expenditure management, cash handling and digitalization.

It also aims to facilitate investment and private sector development, with the broader goal of reducing Pakistan’s fiscal deficit and public debt while creating space for development and social spending.

Khurram Schehzad, adviser to Pakistan’s finance minister, also confirmed the development in a social media post, saying “diplomacy” led by the finance ministry and economic affairs division had helped secure majority support at ADB Board.

The ADB said the program is backed by a comprehensive support package involving technical assistance and coordination with development partners to help Pakistan build long-term fiscal resilience.

A founding member of ADB, Pakistan has received more than $52 billion in public and private sector financing from the bank since 1966, spanning infrastructure, energy, transport, food security and social services.

ADB plays a leading role in supporting inclusive and sustainable development across Asia and the Pacific.

Topics: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Pakistan and ADB

‘Nothing left’: Indian artillery strike wipes out three generations of women at Azad Kashmir home

Updated 03 June 2025
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‘Nothing left’: Indian artillery strike wipes out three generations of women at Azad Kashmir home

  • Qaisra Bibi, her daughter-in-law and granddaughter were inside kitchen for morning tea when Indian artillery shell hit their home on May 10
  • India, Pakistan engaged in worst conflict in decades that killed around 70 people on both sides this month until US brokered a ceasefire
Updated 03 June 2025
Usama Iqbal Khawaja

Abbaspur, POONCH: Blackened from the explosion, shards of a tin roof loosely hang from the branches of a wild apricot tree in the border village of Chaffar in Azad Kashmir’s Poonch district. What once used to be a modest kitchen is now littered with shattered stone, twisted metal and rubble.

It was here that a mortar shell struck hours before a ceasefire was announced between Pakistan and India. The Indian mortar shell instantly killed three generations of women, a mother, her daughter-in-law and two-year-old granddaughter, on the morning of May 10.

India and Pakistan engaged in a four-day military conflict that killed around 70 people on both sides last month, with the two nations attacking each other with fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery until the United States (US) brokered a ceasefire.

Wajid Kayani, a Pakistani army soldier posted in Lahore at the time of the strikes, took heavy, reluctant steps as he led Arab News to a heap of rubble where his wife, mother and infant daughter had breathed their last in the wake of the cross-border skirmishes.

“[Just a night before], I had spoken to my mother and wife over the phone. They were both worried about the shelling,” he said.

“My mother told me and my younger brother [also a soldier], ‘May God protect you both. If someone has to go [die], let it be me.’ That’s what she said… and I can’t forget it. It’s unbearable,” Kayani said as he broke down.

The photograph taken on May 23, 2025, shows a broken window of Wajid Khan’s house in the border village of Chaffar in the Poonch district of Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir. (AN photo)

The deceased women were identified as Qaisra Bibi, Kayani’s mother, his wife Areesha Qayyum and their daughter Hadiya Wajid, who would have turned two on May 27.

All three of them were inside the kitchen for morning tea when the first shell struck the house, according to the family. Another shell landed just meters away, striking a tree and punching holes into the surrounding walls.

The kitchen, once used to prepare meals for a large joint family, now wears the look of a charred, cratered space. Broken plates, half-melted pots and a ruined gas cylinder are scattered around.

Faiz Muhammad Kayani, the 70-year-old head of the family, struggled to speak as he entered the drawing room of the house with the help of a walking stick. Dozens of mourners have been visiting the family since the attack, but the elderly man, father to three sons and four daughters, is unable to come to terms with the horror he witnessed.

That morning, Faiz was at his younger son’s adjacent house and was coming to feed the livestock when he heard the shell strike his elder son’s house. 

“I ran… I ran fast. But what was left to see? There was nothing left… just mud and stones,” he said in a shallow voice.

“They were buried underneath.”

A picture taken on May 23, 2025, shows the destruction at the house of Wajid Kayani caused by an Indian artillery strike in Chafar village in the Poonch district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir. (AN Photo)

The 70-year-old fell silent before excusing himself from further conversation.

Faiz Muhammad Kayani, father of Wajid Kayani, is pictured at his house in Chafar village in the Poonch district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir. (AN Photo)

Bitter rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir, since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety but rule it in part.

The latest conflict was sparked by a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam town that killed 26 tourists on April 22. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which Islamabad denied and called for a credible, international probe.

‘SCATTERED ACROSS BUSHES’

Kayani’s younger brother, Muhammad Sajid Kayani, also a soldier posted in Azad Kashmir’s Kotli sector, reached the house around 2 p.m. on the day of the tragedy.

“Despite the shock, [our] father pulled out the first body. Her [sister-in-law Qayyum] legs had been blown off,” Sajid said.

Their neighbors were unable to help as the shelling continued for hours. Sajid’s sister, who lived nearby, arrived shortly afterward and began searching for their mother.

“She found only our mother’s face. The rest of her body was scattered across the bushes. We had to collect the limbs piece by piece,” Sajid said.

“She found my little niece Hadiya under the rubble. Her left arm was missing. Her stomach was ripped open, and her intestines were outside.”

A picture taken on May 23, 2025, shows the destruction at the house of Wajid Kayani caused by an Indian artillery strike in Chafar village in the Poonch district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir. (AN Photo)

But Hadiya was not the only child hit by the artillery fire.

“One of our nieces was just stepping inside through the kitchen door into the main house when the shell hit,” Sajid said.

“She was badly injured, shrapnel tore through her legs. She’s still recovering.”

The family held the funeral by 2:30 p.m. on May 10, hours before their eldest son, Kayani, could return home from Lahore.

“I couldn’t even attend the burial of my wife, daughter, and mother,” Kayani said, citing heavy shelling and road closures as the reasons.

Wajid Kayani (right) shows a picture of his two-year-old daughter, Hadiya Wajid, on his mobile in Chafar village in the Poonch district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir on May 23, 2025, who was killed by an Indian mortar shell on May 10. (AN photo)

The two brothers returned to the wreckage the following day to search for anything left.

“We started clearing mud and lifting stones. That’s when we found more of our mother’s remains, her abdomen, and other parts. It must’ve weighed around 20 kgs. We buried them in a separate grave,” Wajid said.

“On the third day, we found even more, collected in a [huge metal] plate, and buried again in the same cemetery.”

Kayani’s daughter, Hadiya, was laid to rest in the same grave as her mother, Areesha. Her small body was torn apart by the attack and the family had no choice but to bury them together, given the intense shelling and chaos at the time.

His older daughter, just four years old, survived the attack. Her trauma, however, continues to run deep. 

“She flinches at every little thing,” Kayani said. “She barely speaks anymore… just sits there, quiet. Too quiet.”

Topics: Kashmir Pakistan India Ties azad kashmir

Pakistan military says seven militants killed in counter-terror operations in Balochistan 

Updated 03 June 2025
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Pakistan military says seven militants killed in counter-terror operations in Balochistan 

  • Pakistan says militants killed in separate operations in Balochistan’s Kalat and Kachhi districts on June 2
  • Security forces have been battling insurgency in Balochistan, country’s most impoverished province, for years
Updated 03 June 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Seven militants were killed in two separate counter-terror operations in southwestern Pakistan on June 2, the military’s media wing said on Tuesday as Islamabad battles insurgency in its Balochistan province. 

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said five militants were killed during an intelligence-based operation in Balochistan’s Machh town located in the Kachhi district on June 2. The same day, it said two other militants were killed in a separate IBO in Margand area located in Balochistan’s Kalat District after security forces discovered a “terrorist” hideout. 

The ISPR said weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the slain militants, who it alleged were actively involved in numerous militant activities. 

“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country,” the military’s media wing said. “And reaffirm the nation’s unwavering resolve to bring the perpetrators of Indian-sponsored terrorism and their facilitators to justice.”

Pakistan’s security forces have been battling an insurgency in Balochistan, the country’s most impoverished province, for years. Separatist militants have often targeted security forces, police, foreigners and ethnic Punjabi commuters and workers, who they see as “outsiders,” by wresting control of highways and remote towns in the area.

Pakistan has repeatedly rejected allegations by ethnic Baloch militant groups that it denies locals a share in Balochistan’s mineral and gas resources. The government points to various health, educational and development schemes in Balochistan that it supports. 

Balochistan has seen a spike in militant violence in recent days. An IED blast killed two tribal leaders and injured seven others on Saturday in a remote mountainous town in Quetta district.

Pakistan’s military accuses India of funding and training ethnic Baloch separatist outfits, the most prominent of which is the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), to carry out attacks on Pakistani soil. Delhi rejects the allegations and accuses Pakistan of stoking militancy in the region of Kashmir that India administers. 

In March, BLA fighters stormed a train in Balochistan and held hundreds of passengers hostage before the military launched an operation to rescue them. 

Topics: Pakistan Military

Pakistani delegation demands resumption of ‘comprehensive’ dialogue with India in briefing to OIC envoys

Updated 03 June 2025
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Pakistani delegation demands resumption of ‘comprehensive’ dialogue with India in briefing to OIC envoys

  • Tensions between neighbors Pakistan, India remain high after they struck ceasefire on May 10
  • Pakistani delegation will present Islamabad’s position on Pakistan’s recent conflict with India 
Updated 03 June 2025
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: A high-level Pakistani delegation set up by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week briefed members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the United Nations, calling for the resumption of a “comprehensive dialogue” with India to resolve the Kashmir dispute and other issues, Pakistan’s mission to the UN said. 

Led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the nine-member parliamentary delegation arrived in New York on Monday as the first stop in a diplomatic mission to present Pakistan’s position in world capitals following Islamabad’s recent military conflict with India. The group headed by Bhutto Zardari will visit New York, Washington DC, London and Brussels. Another delegation, led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi, will also visit Moscow.

Tensions between Pakistan and India are high after they struck a ceasefire on May 10 following the most intense military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades. Both countries accuse the other of supporting militancy on each other’s soil — a charge both capitals deny.

The latest escalation last month took place following weeks of tensions after India blamed Pakistan for supporting an April 22 attack on the Kashmir territory it governs that killed 26 tourists. Pakistan denied involvement in the incident and called for an international probe. Both countries traded missiles, artillery fire and drone strikes before Washington brokered a ceasefire on May 10. 

“He [Bhutto Zardari] reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to peace, restraint, and diplomacy, and called for the restoration of the Indus Waters Treaty, full respect for the ceasefire, and the resumption of a comprehensive dialogue with India, with the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute at its core,” Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Monday. 

Members of a high-level Pakistani parliamentary delegation, led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari (fifth from right), pose for a picture in New York, US, on June 2, 2025. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Following the attack at the Pahalgam tourist resort in April, India suspended the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan. The move drew a sharp response from Islamabad, which said any attempts to divert or stop the flow of its waters by India would be considered an “act of war.”

About 80 percent of Pakistani farms depend on the Indus system, as do nearly all hydropower projects serving the country of some 250 million.

“Mr. Bhutto expressed grave concern at the unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty — a move that Pakistan considers a blatant act of weaponizing water and a violation of international and treaty obligations,” the statement said. 

The former Pakistani foreign minister thanked OIC countries for their efforts and role aimed at de-escalation, mediation and ceasefire during the conflict. He highlighted that the only path to peace was in dialogue, engagement and diplomacy.

“Mr. Bilawal Bhutto underlined that OIC has emerged as the moral conscience of the world in these difficult times and thanked the OIC member states for their steadfast support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the statement said. 

The statement said that the OIC’s permanent representatives appreciated Pakistan’s briefing and reaffirmed their solidarity with the country. 

“They reiterated their concern over the worsening security situation in South Asia and stressed the importance of upholding the principles of the UN Charter and international law and in this regard, the sanctity of treaties, including the Indus Waters Treaty,” Pakistan’s permanent mission to the UN said. 

Separately, the delegation also met Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, president of the UN Security Council for June, according to a press release issued by 
Bhutto Zardari’s residence, Bilawal House. 

“The Pakistani delegation stressed that in the face of a growing trend of unilateralism and escalation, the Security Council must play its crucial role to ensure peace and conflict resolution,” it said. 

The delegation urged the Security Council to play a “proactive role” in promoting de-escalation, ensuring respect for international law and treaties and facilitating peaceful resolution of disputes.

The statement said Birkett reaffirmed the Security Council’s commitment to upholding international peace and security in line with its mandate. 

Topics: Pakistan India Ties Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

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