Shahzad Naveed

A large number of people gather around a young man playing flute in the foothills of mountain in Swat, listening to his playing of flute with rapt attention

These people gather to listen to flute of Muhammad Sajjad, who despite losing his sight has learned to entertain the public.

Sajjad belongs to Manglor area of Swat; some years back found his life going up in anguish and despair, after going for walk in the mountains of Syedabad area.

When he around 10 years old, Sajjad found a hand grenade in the mountains and brought it home. He started to break it apart to sell it as scrap.

His family was away to attend a wedding in the village. When Sajjad start smashing it, the grenade went off with a bang. The blast caused the loss of his both eyes beside three fingers of one hand.

The period of 2007 to 2009, was the most tumultuous in the history of the Swat as security forces launched operations to break the grip of the Taliban from the valley. During this time, large quantities of explosives were either used or left behind all over the district.

The insurgency led to thousands of deaths as large number of families lost their members in the war. The war also changed the Sajjad’s life drastically. Having lost his vision for rest of his life, he turned to flute, rabab, sitar and heart breaking melodies and now using them to entertain people of the district.

Following the blast, he felt his breathing slipping away. He was shifted to Saidu Sharif hospital where he remained for a week before being shifted to Peshawar.

“I remained in Peshawar hospital for about six months,” Sajjad said.

He said that after treatment he remained in inside the walls of his home for about a year, as he was unable to walk around. “Suddenly my life was turned into bleakness,” he said.

However, Sajjad made to promise to himself that he managed to walk again; he will fill the lives of others with happiness.

These days, Sajjad’s fame as flute, sitar and poet, has spread to other areas of Swat, beyond from the native locality.

Sajjad is eldest among his siblings, while his father is a truck driver.

In the afternoon, he goes to the same mountains from where he had found the hand grenade, which cast darkness into his life. However, these days, the melodies from his flute and poetry fill the same mountains with music.

On weekends, he arranges musical events with his friends, where a large number of people gather and he sings of peace and love.

Even most of his poetry preaches love and peace.

Many people were killed during the insurgency in Swat including some artists from the district. In a few cases, Taliban slaughtered female artists and left their bodies at the Green Chowk, which earned the moniker of Khooni Chowk or Bloody Chowk.

Wadud, the president of Swat artists told TNN that they had to leave Swat during those horror filled days.

However, Swat peace was restored after great loss of lives and now large number of heading to the district for as tourist. About 12 million visited the Swat over a year and now Malakand division is the cradle of peace.

On the other hand, there are few people like Sajjad who fill others lives with happiness. Sajjad has turned his loss of vision into filling the lives of others with happiness.