http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050510.wxafghani10/BNStory/National/By PETTI FONG
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 Updated at 3:05 AM EDT
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Vancouver ? The waiting fan told Afghan pop star Nasrat Parsa he wanted an autograph as the singer stepped out of the lobby of his east Vancouver hotel minutes after a sold-out concert.
But when Mr. Parsa extended his hand in greeting, the fan grabbed him by the wrist, punched him once on the side of the head and then fled as the singer fell hard on the concrete steps.
"It happened so quickly, no one knew what happened at first," said Mr. Parsa's bandmate Qais Ulfat, who witnessed the deadly assault. "Nasrat was reaching his hand out to shake this guy's hand. He was being friendly, and then he gets punched once and dies."
Mr. Parsa's family members and some band members rushed the 36-year-old singer to Vancouver General Hospital, but the fall down four steps in the hotel lobby caused such massive brain injuries that doctors advised the family late Saturday to take him off life support.
When news that Mr. Parsa had been assaulted first circulated in the local Afghan community on Sunday, more than 150 fans gathered at the hospital.
They held a vigil for the handsome singer who had recorded about 10 albums and was about to embark on a movie career.
Vancouver police have arrested a 19-year-old Burnaby man who they say did not know Mr. Parsa. They expect to charge him with manslaughter today.
"He was one of the most talented musicians in the world. Some people would not recognize him, but you say his name and people in Germany, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, everywhere, knew who he was," said Tamim Faizi of his friend, Mr. Parsa. "He accomplished a lot already and people knew he was going to do even greater things in the future."
Mr. Parsa, who had family in British Columbia's Lower Mainland but lived in Germany with his mother, was born in Kabul into a musical family. He left Afghanistan as a child, but maintained deep roots in the country, singing love songs about his homeland and traditional folk numbers.
He had performed in Toronto on Friday before flying to Vancouver on Saturday for the evening concert, which drew more than 600 fans to the Vancouver Playhouse.
His friends and family said yesterday the suspect in custody had been at the concert and had caused a disturbance when he jumped onto the stage. They said the suspect demanded Mr. Parsa play fast dance music, known as mast songs.
Mr. Parsa obliged with a few dance numbers before switching back to slow or ghazal songs for the mothers in the audience the evening before Mother's Day.
Later Saturday night, the singer's brothers Najeeb and Ehsan and some band members were at the Days Inn when they encountered three young men they recognized from the concert.
After Mr. Parsa was punched in the head and the assailant fled, the brothers and bandmates grabbed two other men.
The singer, who had a girlfriend in Germany, was the youngest of seven children. Family members said yesterday that his mother had been told only that he had been in an accident.
On Mr. Parsa's website, he credits Najeeb, his eldest brother, for having a great impact on his life and his music.
"He has given me tremendous guidance in this incredible journey. I have never felt alone even if we were oceans apart," Mr. Parsa wrote on his website.
Najeeb Parsa was his brother's manager and wrote most of his music. He said they were planning to put out a DVD of Mr. Parsa's concert this year and were looking at movie roles.
"This was his final destination, at a hotel in Vancouver, and no one knows about destiny and what will happen," Najeeb said yesterday. "But this should not have happened. This was not the way it was supposed to be for him."
Najeeb said Mr. Parsa had hoped to return to Afghanistan for a major concert when conditions improved in the war-torn country.
His body will be flown back to Germany this week for a funeral and burial.
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