by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Ustad Dawood Khan was enjoying life as one of Pakistan's pre-eminent tabla players, until five years ago. The Ustad (roughly translated as the musical equivalent of "guru"), who'd played with tabla legend Zakir Hussain and the renowned Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan among many, many others, had been a judge at a singing competition in his home town of Quetta when he and another of the three judges awarded the top prize to a girl who happened to be, like Khan, Christian. Trouble followed. Khan says local Islamic fundamentalists subsequently insulted and beat him, threatened his daughters and eventually forced him to move to Lahore. His problems followed him there, until finally he put his family in hiding and fled to Canada, where he found refuge in Montreal four years ago.

Khan's problems aren't over. The Immigration and Refugee Board turned down his request for refugee status because, his supporters say, the IRB thought returning to Pakistan wouldn't present any risks, even though Khan would have to be in the public spotlight to make a living. While the deportation order has since been temporarily reversed, Khan remains in bureaucratic limbo.

"These green-turbaned people, they are very fanatical," Khan says, referring to the Pakistan radicals. "I can die any time. They ordered me to become Muslim, but I cannot."

With only a limited command of English, Khan, 53, is relying on his students, friends and supporters within both the disparate South Asian and musical communities of Montreal to keep him here. Tarik Hussein, a 22-year-old music producer and a student of Khan's, is circulating a petition to keep the Ustad here.

"The main goal is to get the Immigration Minister to order a stay of deportation and to get [Khan] some sort of permanent status," Hussein says.

But Pakistan's loss, Hussein says, is Montreal's gain. The Ustad's fame has preceded him here and he is very much in demand at South Asian community events. "It's crazy, but we've had support from the Pakistani community, the Kashmiri community, Hindus, Bangladeshis," says Hussein. "Dawood is the only one in Montreal who plays at all the functions. He's a unifying factor for all these South Asian communities that normally don't have anything to do with each other."

Khan is also active with the youth here, playing with them, teaching them tabla - an extremely complex percussion instrument, played with all 10 fingers - and taking apprentices. "It's cool that he's keeping that tradition alive," says Hussein. "An apprenticeship is more than just a teacher-student relationship, it's more like a mentorship. He's bringing that aspect of eastern culture here."

Hussein says that the musical meeting of east and west that's taken place since Khan arrived has been profitable for everyone. "He's been working on free jazz, hip hop, jungle and house," he says. "He's the kindest guy you've ever met. He loves everybody and likes every kind of music, from classical to Aphex Twin. Anything you put on, he's down with it."

Even over the phone, Khan can't stop his musical impulse. He frequently breaks into singing and percussion beats when trying to make a point. "Music is always alive and always young," he says.

Hussein says benefit concerts will be coming up, and the petition will be circulated in local music venues and stores, including Steve's, at 51 St-Antoine W. For more info, e-mail studio@beatsmyth.com.