Rameez Makhdoomi
:Kashmir has been hit by worst floods in a century causing great damage to life and property. Mahatma Gandhi had famously quoted — ‘You must not lose faith inhumanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.’ The ravaging floods in Kashmir have proven this quote not only right but humanity has emerged as clear winner with triumphing colors. Human hearts from all-over the world have come forward to heal the wounds of bruised souls irrespective of any barrier of religion, caste, creed or ideology. Local volunteers too have come together irrespective of community or religion to help each other in their time of need.
Within no time Payal Jagi, an eminent and talented fashion designer based in Gurgaon (India) felt the pain of flood hit victims of Kashmir and organized relief to affected people via Relief supplies for J&K (Gurgaon Group) and is ensuring its continuous disposal to affected people via here team in Kashmir.
Sebastian, a 9 year old boy from United States of America , has raised $1100 for the flood affected victims of #Kashmir by selling lemonade on the streets of New York. Sebastian is supporting #BridgetoKashmir who are working to #RebuildKashmir.
On September 12 was another golden epitome for humanity , when Capital city Srinagar was under flood, an expecting mother from Western Indian state of Gujarat found home in a local mosque at Hyderpora to give birth to a baby daughter. Kiran, the newborn, was christened in the mosque by locals after the family from Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, insisted that their saviors should name their baby.
Interestingly, Neeta, wife of Kishore from Gujarat, was brought to Hyderpora Jamia Masjid in a critical condition by rescuers from Bemina, one of the worst-hit areas by the shocking flood.
One of the unsung heroes of the rescue operation in Kashmir Sajad Mohiuddin Sheikh hailing from Sopore proved his mettle for human values . He had been continuously rescuing labourers, tourists, locals marooned in the floods, and traveled to Delhi within no time in one flooded evening to immediately buy boats and return to Srinagar the next morning to continue with the brave rescue operations.
On the otherhand, we had corporate professionals leaving their homes to rescue people. Kashmir’s top telecom professionals like Ashraf Ramzan Baba ,Muzakir Jaleel and Javaid Dar rescued innumerable people from flooded areas and gave untiring efforts to rescue marooned people.
Apart from individual stories, collective stories of humanity too emerged .WhenMaisuma, Rajbagh, Jawahirnagar got completely inundated the unaffected areas like Soura, Lalbazar , Buchpora opened their homes and converted them into community centers. Brave boys of Athrout NGO zigzagged through the floodedstreets of Jawahar Nagar in boats to help stranded residents. Senior pro-freedom leader Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Umar Farooq led Awami Action Committee operated in trucks and rescued families from Gogji Bagh when portions of a scenic Amar Singh College drowned in more than 20 feet water, and Awami Action Committee continues to provide food to hungry and medicine to ailing.
Each unaffected area has been converted into a ‘Relief Committee” for flood hit people.
In short, the saga of humanity thrived and fascist tendencies died in epic Kashmirfloods.
(Article was published on 27th October 2014 issue.The writer can be reached at rameezh3@gmail.com).
