Hasan Raheem

Thanks for all the love in Bewajah fam. Here’s a small piece.

November 1st 1947, Might not be a very significant day for many people but from where I am, It is. It marks the day when Gilgit Baltistan was Liberated by GB Scouts, from the Dogra Raj; An appointed governor at that time by Maharaja Hari Singh. Maharaja at the time of independence decided to join India even though the majority of the people in the region were muslims.
The scouts took control, declared the region as an independent state, and soon decided to join Pakistan instead, And that is what I am, a Pakistani Muslim.

Rooting from Gilgit, it is more than a place on a map for me. Empires came and went, but the mountains and the stories of its people remained. My ownership of the region comes from a deep rooted upbringing by my parents who never let me forget where I was from, despite growing up in the urban areas of Pakistan.

Growing up in Karachi, my thoughts began speaking and switching languages, Shina to Urdu and vice versa. The slang, the cadence, and the voice in my lyrics were shaped by that change.
Shina; only one of a dozen languages spoken around in the region. It has always been spoken within the walls of my house, a language I sometimes also sing in. I still think in Urdu, but my heart echoes in the layers of Shina.
And as a sage once said “Silence is thunder”. Shina shaped how my art speaks, with patience and silence that holds the depth of my faith and identity. That is where I come from and where the mountains stand still. That quiet presence remains within me.

Not only do I claim Gilgit with all my heart, I carry it with responsibility, respect, and with the understanding that some cultures are best represented by tone rather than explanation. So when you listen to my art, you’re not just listening to music or words.

Pakistani Zindabaad 🫂

❤️