Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Sayed Alam Mehsud, the legendary folk singer from militancy-plagued South Waziristan tribal region died in a road accident near Dera Ismail Khan (DIK) on Friday, his friends and a sobbing brother said.

Talking to Daily Times on phone from DIK, Sher Alam Mehsud, brother of the deceased, said his late brother was traveling in a rickshaw along with three other passengers when a Gomal University bus hit the rickshaw. “The bus collided head-on with the rickshaw, leaving two passengers including my brother dead on the spot while two others suffered grievous injuries who were then rushed to DHQ hospital in critical condition,” the wailing Sher added.

Ali Wazir, a tribal elder, said that entire FATA people in general and South Waziristan in particular mourn “the untimely death of someone who was voice of the people in times of unspeakable problems.”

Sher said that his late brother 38, left behind four daughters and a son to mourn him. Khan Zeb Mehsud, the longtime friend of the late singer, recalled that he had a kind heart and in every song, the pain he held for his motherland, can be felt. “He started singing in 1996 out of love for the profession. He sung bravely at a time when speaking openly in the sensitive region was almost impossible,” Mehsud remarked. The deceased singer belonged to the scenic Ladha valley, a hamlet in the South Waziristan, who migrated to D. I. Khan following military operation against militants.

Mehsud said that the late singer spent some time in Karachi when he was leading a life in displacement like thousands of other tribal families.

“He emerged as a known singer from Karachi where he improved his taste for the profession,” Mehsud recalled. “Late Sayed Alam was the voice of the people of our area and we lost him. He sung with love for our land and our war weary people at a time when singing was prohibited by insurgents,” Mehsud noted.

A leading poet Sadudin Mehsud, who was writing songs for the deceased singer from the very start, in a telephonic conversation said, “Sayed Alam stepped in the profession in 1996. He got middle education and had four daughters and a son. He earned good reputation in a very short time span due to his melodious voice”.

Sadudin said that the loss of Sayed Alam Mehsud is a huge loss for the whole area. He said that the late singer loudly projected the voice of the voiceless tribal people.

Irfanullah Khan, a student of MPhil, said that several complaints have been pending for years now regarding reckless driving by the drivers of Gomal University buses but the issue has yet to be resolved.

Gomal University transport section could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.

Published in Daily Times, October 28^th 2017.