Afghan singer beaten to death in Vancouver

[sabra]

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http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=22&art_id=vn20050510090829842C863110

Afghan singer beaten to death in Vancouver

May 10 2005 at 03:35PM

Vancouver - Afghan singer Nasrat Parsa died after being brutally assaulted on the street outside his hotel following a performance at a downtown Vancouver theatre, police said.

"He had been approached by three men, one punched him and he fell down some stairs, hitting his head," Constable Tim Fanning of the Vancouver police said on Monday.

"He was rushed to hospital and was pronounced dead."

Parsa, 36, who had been living in Germany, died at 11.25pm on Sunday.

His official website said he suffered internal brain bleeding. Parsa had released 10 albums since he started recording in 1989. He toured all over the world and had been in Canada for the past month, promoting his new album Dil, a collection of soft melodies released last autumn.


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[joeybee12]

1. Well, that just sucks!

Poor guy.

[Benhurst]

2. How sad. We DON'T expect this sort of thing to happen in Canada. NT

[dddem]

4. Exactly my first thought.

Unfortunately I can see that kind of thing happening here in the land of the free and the home of the brave(?), but Canada?!?!

[Sequoia]

15. Probably Americans on vacation.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

17. Really?

Without any evidence at all you say this?

Please explain how this comment is not anti-American.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[getmeouttahere]

3. I'm curious to know the background of the assailants....

whether they even knew who he was or if it was some sort of hit, and where they are from

[Barrett808]

5. That was my first thought: "A hit" n/t

[Colorado Blue]

6. Me too. Doesn't make sense at all. nt

[freedom_to_read]

10. me 3

This was a hit no doubt.

[ladeuxiemevoiture]

18. Hope not.

Aside from the sadness I feel anyway, remember the days preceding 9/11 when the Northern Alliance guy was murdered by al-qaida characters as a means of consolidating Taliban power?

[Megahurtz]

7. In Vancouver?

Canadians don't generally listen to American's bullshit like siding against Afghans "because they're terrorists" or whatever.

Sounds weird.

Were the assailants Americans?

[cascadiance]

9. As someone who's contemplated moving to Vancouver later...

I hope it wasn't Americans in some ways, as I know that this event might make us less welcome there moving forward. On the other hand, part of what attracts me to that city is it potentially being a mecca from the creeping fascism down here.

[bobthedrummer]

8. The Taliban executed musicians, they absolutely hate my brothers

and sisters that make music. We have a Taliban here in the US too.

[B3Nut]

11. Anyone that hates musicians is pond scum.

Whether it's the Afghan Taliban, or the phony-"Christian" American Taliban. Pond scum. The fundie knuckledraggers hate rock'n'roll because it came from black musicians - all their other epithets are but thinly-veiled referents to its non-white roots.

It's shocking that this took place in Vancouver, though...I could totally see it happening in the US, but not Canada.

A B-3 organ roar goes out to this guy's family...peace.

Todd in Beerbratistan, multi-instrumentormentalist ;)

[bobthedrummer]

13. Yes, a lot of it is racism. Playing the drums was banned for 400 years

in North America because of fear of communicating slave rebellion between plantations.

Most American popular music comes out of The Blues.

That was called devil music too by these fruitcake RWer's.

[mahina]

16. Which 400 years?

Wow, that is a long time...can that be correct? 400?

[megatherium]

19. The fundies have long since stopped hating rock music.

Many churches, especially megachurches, have rock "worship bands". I went to a megachurch where I live once. I was impressed by the band, thoroughly professional. I thought, it's just rock, all it needs is a guitar solo -- when sure enough, there was a guitar solo.

But you are so right -- anyone who hates music is scum.

And Vancouver, I'm shocked; they must be completely mortified it happened there. I used to live there (I had a postdoc at UBC some 15 years ago), it's a beautiful city. If Americans knew what a good city is really about, they wouldn't tolerate the lack of services and dilapidation we have here.

[Spazito]

12. Here is the latest on this very sad tragedy

Young fan charged in death of Afghan star
Pop singer was attacked at his hotel after rowdy show

Charges have been upgraded from aggravated assault to manslaughter in the weekend death in Vancouver of popular Afghan singer Nasrat Parsa.

Ahmad Seiar Froogh, 19, of Burnaby, was charged with manslaughter Monday after Parsa, 36, died following his concert in Vancouver Saturday night.

snip

Abdul Rahimi, a television producer and concert promoter in the Afghan community, said Parsa's death followed trouble during the concert at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre's Playhouse Saturday night.

Young concert-goers were allowed on stage with Parsa, where they demanded he play more upbeat dance music.

more

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=cf6ae964-82cc-42c8-9fa7-844d12a8a946

[cascadiance]

14. This is a sad commentary...

that even in what many here in the U.S. regard as a more "peaceful" and enlightened community, an act of barbarism can result from people letting themselves get out of control and not thinking through their actions. It doesn't have to happen in the hotbeds of Iraq or Afghanistan, but here and Canada as well.

Kids going to concerts should really think a bit more before taking that extra drink and demanding that extra "upbeat" song. That's another human being on the other side of the mike, whether he's famous or no. It's a shame that Afghanistan loses one of their potential cultural leaders.