KHAIRPUR, Jan 21 Sufi singer Gul Bahar Faqeer, a kidney and heart patient, says he wants to sell his musical instruments to collect money for treatment.

He told Dawn on Thursday that he did not own any property and the musical instruments were his only property. A patient of kidney and heart ailments for past many years, he was admitted to People's Medical College Hospital Nawabshah a couple of days ago but had to leave soon afterwards because he had no money to buy treatment, he said.

Faqeer said that he had applied the Sindh Culture Department for financial aid for a number of times but did not get any response. He had offered some of his friends to buy his musical instruments including harmonium so that he could collect some money for treatment, he said.

Faqeer who has lost 90 per cent of eyesight is a devotee of Dargah Sain Faqeer Janaan Chan Moondar Lakha. He became a devotee of Naseeb Ali Faqeer, the first custodian of Dargah Janaan Chan in 1997 and started singing at the shrine.

He was the first Sufi singer who sang poetry of Sain Janaan Chan in programmes as well as on radio and TV channels. He started his singing career when he was nine years old. His father Dodo Faqeer was his first teacher in music.

Later, he formally became a student of late Sufi singer Sohrab Faqeer and performed with him at annual Urs celebrations of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai as well as Sachal Sarmast.

He also performed with a group of 18 Sufi singers who sang “Raano” at Bhitshah.

VISIT General secretary of Sindh PML-F and adviser to chief minister Imtiaz Shaikh has stressed school teachers to play their due role for improvement in the education system. He was talking to a delegation of teachers during a visit to the UC of Jado Wahan and Bhelharro on Thursday.

The delegation complained that their transfers and postings were made on political grounds and they were facing difficulty in transportation.