Rahat Fateh Ali Khan reacts to backlash over viral video beating 'student': 'I did apologise to him'
In the viral video, Rahat was seen repeatedly slapping and kicking the employee with his shoe, over a ‘bottle.’ Many trolled him about it, which he had then clarified was ‘pir sahab ka dum ka paani (holy water)’
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan opened up about a recent widely shared video, where he was seen hitting a man, Naveed Hasnain, with a shoe.
Talking to Adeel Asif on his podcast, the Pakistani singer said he apologised to Naveed, whom he calls his shagird (protege). He had previously clarified about the matter after many on social media criticised him for allegedly subjecting his protege to physical torture.
Talking about the incident, Rahat told Adeel, "I did apologise to him. He started crying and said, 'Ustaad ji (Sir) why are you doing this?'" The 49-year-old said, "Baap ka jaise role hota hai. Shagird ki baap hone ki jarurat hai. Humne woh role hi adaa kia hai (I am his teacher. I have played the role of his father)."
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He went on to say that he has been helping his employee's family by paying for their medical treatments and wedding expenses. In the viral video, Rahat was seen repeatedly slapping and kicking the employee with his shoe, over a 'bottle.' Many trolled him about it, which he had then clarified was 'pir sahab ka dum ka paani (holy water)'.
Reacting to the trolling, the Pakistani singer said, "He is my protege and I accepted that I scolded and trashed him. Later I apologised. Till this point, it was fine but people are making fun of it. But the truth is he had my holy water with him. People are not understanding the intensity of the situation. It's a very serious matter for me as it involves my spiritual guide."
The video featured Rahat Fateh Ali Khan hitting and slapping the man, whom he identified as his protege. He kept asking him, "Where is my bottle?"
Later, Rahat called the incident an "internal matter" between a master and his employee. "Whatever you have seen in these videos is about an internal matter between an ustaad (master) and a shagird (protege). When a protege does a good job, we shower a lot of them and when they make a mistake, we punish them as well... I had apologised to him at the same time..." he clarified in a separate video, which also featured Hasnain and his father.
The O Re Piya fame singer also said that the person who recorded the video was trying to tarnish his image.
