What Lata Mangeshkar's death means for Pakistan

Aneela Z Babar
Feb 10, 2022 | 17:18 IST

The singing sensation is perhaps one of the last cultural icons whose legacy could not be confined within the territorial limits of a nation. She was part of the folklore, just like Noor Jahan

At a time when the political and psychological chasm between India and Pakistan seems to be widening by the day, the death of Lata Mangeshkar is a stirring reminder of all that artfully binds the two nations and its fate together. (Other than cricket and the love for chai, of course.)


In the case of Pakistan, this devotion is also an enduring love story because it persevered during one of the country’s darkest periods when people had little or no access to music and cinema. In 1965, a ban was put in place on Indian films, and a generation of Pakistanis would keenly depend on expats returning from the Gulf and Hong Kong to smuggle in video and audio cassettes.
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