Ayla Musharraf

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ayla Musharraf

• Ayla Musharraf is a former Pakistani architect who later became the Director of the All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC), Karachi.

• Born into a musically inclined family, she developed an interest in classical music in childhood. Sparks of her interest in music were fueled by her paternal grandfather, Syed Musharraf, who used to play the tabla, and her grandmother, Zarin Musharraf, who played the harmonium. Growing up, she listened to the ghazal playlist of her father, Pervez Musharraf.

• Initially, she started studying architecture at Dawood Engineering College in Karachi, but due to student unrest in Karachi in the late 80s, she moved to Lahore, where she attended the National College of Arts (NCA).

• Ayla Musharraf made acquaintance with Asim Raza while attending Dawood Engineering College, where both of them were studying architecture.

• At NCA, she attended numerous concerts organised by the All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC) and the Lahore Music Forum. Meanwhile, she also learned classical music at college.

• After her marriage, she moved to Karachi, where she made acquaintance with the founder of APMC Hayat Ahmed Khan at a dance festival. She highlighted the fact that, unlike Lahore, Karachi lacks in hosting cultural events. She persuaded Hayat to organize concerts in Karachi.

• In 2004, she successfully organized the first concert as a board member of APMC Karachi. In an interview, while talking about Hayat Ahmed Khan, she said,
  

  Hayat sahib was kind and encouraging. He put me in touch with some classical music enthusiasts in Karachi, and also attended our inaugural event in the city.”

• Ayla’s daughter Maryam Raza started her career as a director in 2021 when she directed the music video of the song ‘Pyaar Da Meter’ by Taha G. Meanwhile, Ayla’s other daughter Zainab Raza worked as a stylist for the cast of the video.

• Ayla worked in an architectural firm until 2010.

• Thereafter, she joined the non-profit organization, All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC), Karachi, which works toward the promotion of traditional performing arts in Pakistan. She has held the position of General Secretary of APMC. Later, she became the director of the organisation.

• In 2013, Ayla Musharraf faced life threats from a terrorist organization in Karachi. Reportedly, intelligence agencies had informed the Government of Sindh that militants were planning to kill Pervez Musharraf’s daughter. Pervez Musharraf, who had then returned to Pakistan after a four-year exile, faced similar threats from the Pakistani Taliban. At that time, Pervez was under house arrest at his stately farmhouse situated on the outskirts of Islamabad. Apparently, in a video released by Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) blamed Pervez Musharraf for Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in 2007. Additionally, he was also accused of killing Nawab Akbar Bugti, a nationalist leader from Balochistan province during a military operation in 2006. ^[3]The Times of India

• Ayla has learned Khayal, a classical music genre, under the tutelage of Ustad Naseer-ud-Din Saami of the Qawwal Bachcha/Dilli Gharana.

• She actively advocates women’s rights and speaks at various women-oriented seminars and events. She was also a speaker in the 3rd Athena40 Global Conversation: ‘Women’s Leadership in Times of Crises.’ In the synchronised online conversation, women belonging to eight countries participated in the debate about women’s role as effective leaders in times of crisis, as well as the local challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

• She pursued a six-month course in the Persian language. ^[4]Dawn

• A voracious reader, Ayla is fond of reading both fiction and non-fiction.