School teacher’s woven charpoys gain fame on social media but no national support

Aijaz Bugti, a former teacher, from Nazar Mohammad village rose to fame for his beautiful woven charpoys after MNA Nafisa Shah tweeted about his work. Bugti received heaps of praises from social media users and his work as an artisan was highly appreciated. However, Bugti said that while his art is loved regionally, he has never received any support from national media or cultural department.

Forty-eight-year-old Bugti learned the art of weaving cots at the age of 14 from his late father Mohammad Saleem Khan, who was also a great weaver. “I retired early from the government [as a primary teacher] and started to spend all my time on weaving, which has not only earned me fame but I am also earning enough to look after my family,” he said.

“I sell my decorated cots for between Rs18,000 and Rs32,000,” he said, adding that despite the increasing costs of his raw materials, he tries to charge as little as he can to promote his work and provide quality charpoys to his customers. He said so far he has made thousands of them and has 200 unique designs.

Bugti said he has been awarded twice by the deputy commissioner of Sanhar in 2018 and then again in 2019 and after seeing his work, Sindh Culture Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah also sent a team to visit him.

Source: Samaa TV