Hum Dekhain gy, Google honours Iqbal Bano on her 81st birth anniversary

California: Google honored acclaimed singer Iqbal Bano with her very own Google Doodle on what would have been her 81st birthday.

The illustration celebrates the the classical singer famous for her renditions of ghazal, nazm and other classical forms, as well as music for film and patriotic songs. She passed away in 2009 in Lahore.

During the regime of General Zia ul Haq, Iqbal Bano sang Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s poetry in a black sari before a crowd of 50,000 at a Lahore stadium in 1985, becoming a symbol of resistance. She was subsequently banned from performing or appearing on TV. Faiz had written the poem critical of military rule while in prison and the sari had been declared “un-Islamic”.

Iqbal Bano was born in 1938 in Delhi and studied with Ustad Chand Khan, a master of classical Indian vocals, and began singing on All India Radio as a teenager. She moved to Pakistan in 1952 and sang on Radio Pakistan, provided vocals as a playback singer for popular movies and attracted large crowds to her live concerts. She was awarded the Pride of Performance Award in 1974.