QUETTA: Singer Abdul Wahab Bugti, who rose to fame this year with an appearance in the country’s most popular music show, Coke Studio, has lost his home in flash floods in the southwestern Balochistan province, the musician said on Monday, as social media users expressed outrage over his plight and called for donations.
Bugti has been singing since childhood and participated in Coke Studio’s Season 14, with his song Kana Yaari, recorded with two other Baloch artists Khalil Kaifi and Eva B, garnering 34 million views on YouTube.
On Friday, Bugti's mud home was destroyed after heavy rains triggered floods in Goth Muhammad Umar village, some three kilometers away from Dera Murad Jamali city in Balochistan's Nasirabad district. Bugti shared the house in the impoverished province with over one dozen family members.
Since mid-June, over 770 people have died in rain-related incidents in Pakistan, with Balochistan worst hit with 225 deaths and over 25,000 homes damaged.
“It was constant rain in my village for the last 12 days which caused knee-deep flooding in Goth Muhammad Umar and adjacent villages,” Bugti told Arab News in a phone interview. “Heavy rains on Saturday inundated my house and we migrated with nothing in our hands.”
“My 16 family members, including my eight children, reached Dera Murad Jamali city, but instead of taking shelter in government camps, a friend invited me to live in his home,” he said, adding that the government had said the family should move to a camp if it wanted to avail relief goods.
“My two children were ill but I will never sit in camps and wait for government rations,” he said.
Bugti said recent floods and downpours had destroyed the entire village of Goth Muhammad Umar where three generations of his family had lived. Thankfully, he added, most people had managed to move to safe places.
“I will move back to my village to rebuild my home,” the musician said.
Since last weekend, photos of Bugti standing next to his destroyed home have unleashed criticism on social media, with many users calling out Coke Studio for using local artists without adequate compensation and some lamenting that Bugti lived in a mud home despite earning thousands of dollars in revenue for the platform.
Artist and humanitarian Muniba Mazari called on people to donate:
Many users urged Coke Studio to help Bugti:
“Crucial responsibility of Coke Studio to come up to assist [Bugti,]” another Twitter handle said.
Zulfiqar ‘Xulfi’ Jabbar Khan, the producer of Coke Studio Season 14, said the platform was with "Bugti Sahib and his loved ones during this hard time."
“Rest assured, he is being given all possible support on the ground,” Xulfi tweeted.
Aisha Sarwari, a director of public affairs at Coca-Cola Pakistan, said the entire team of Coke Studio and its producer were in touch with Bugti and the Coca-Cola foundation would not only help the singer but all flood affected people of Balochistan and northern Sindh.
“During the campaign on social media for Wahab Bugti, many donations were sent to Wahab’s personnel account,” Sarwari said. “The assistance will continue.”
