Ghulam Ali to perform in Kolkata today

Pakistani ghazal legend Ghulam Ali reached Kolkata on Monday evening and he also talked to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over phone. 

Ali will perform along with his son at Netaji Indoor Stadium on Tuesday. MP Sultan Ahmed was present at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport to receive Ali. From the airport, the ghazal legend went to a hotel at Esplanade. 

The ghazal legend will be in the city till Wednesday afternoon. 

On Tuesday, his two-and-a-half-hour-long programme will start at 5 pm which is organised by the state government. 

Ahmed, who is also the chairman of the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corportaion, said: “He is our state’s guest.”

Initially, there were certain problems over finallising the venue of his programme after permission was not granted to organise it at Eden Gardens. Later, Netaji Indoor Stadium was finalised as the venue.  

Steps have been taken to avoid any untoward incident during the programme, said a senior police officer. 

He said additional policemen will be deployed outside the venue. It may be mentioned that his programme was cancelled in Mumbai last year. In November 2015, Ghulam Ali had expressed his disappointment saying that “never to return to India”.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had offered Kolkata as a venue following the cancellation of the Mumbai concert. 

The state government had later decided to invite him to perform in the city.