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Anoushka Shankar records special performance for Bangladesh in London

Anoushka Shankar

Sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar is batting for Bangladesh by recording a special performance marking 50 years of liberation of the country at the famed Abbey Road Studio in London.

Anoushka, daughter of sitar maestro, Ravi Shankar, performed a special tribute to the Concert for Bangladesh, celebrating the 50 years of Bangladesh's independence.

In some ways Shankar was following the footsteps of her father. Way back on August 1, 1971, the Concert for Bangladesh was organized by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Ravi Shankar. Harrison was the sitar apprentice of Ravi Shankar, was deeply moved by the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.

The pair of concert benefits, were held at different timing on Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide. The event was followed up by a bestselling live album, a boxed three-record set, and Apple Films' concert documentary, which opened in cinemas in 1972.

This first-ever benefit of such a magnitude, featured several performers including Harrison, Ringo Starr ex-Beatle star, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and the band Badfinger.Besides them, Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, both students of Ustad Allauddin, had their ancestral roots in Bangladesh, too performed an opening set of Indian classical music.

Attended by more than  40,000 people, the gate receipts totaling close to $250,000 was administered by UNICEF for Bangladesh relief.