Kashmiris After Flood

Kashmiris After Flood

We all mourned for the loss of thousands of Kashmiris during the flood last year. NGOs, Private Institutes &several others (including individuals like us) did whatever they could to help the needees! The thing that caught my attention was today's incident that happened right outside my house.

First day of the year 2015, two Kashmiri men aged 45 & 30 (from Barahmulla - Kashmir) knocked my door & asked for some help (financially). I must admit that it was one of the most decent way of begging though. They both looked fit & fine, so just like the way most of us do; I said sorry & banged the door on their face (as I was little pissed after looking at them as they both could work & earn instead of soliciting money). Looking at my action, my mother asked me to apologise to them for my behaviour & figure out their reason bwhind their action. I had no other choice but to obey her as she’s my mother. Thus, I opened the door, went towards the two & apologised to them. I invited them at my place & offered them some water & tea as they both looked tired. They thanked us for the hospitality with a sad face. When I asked them the reason, Basheer (45) told me something with a live example which shocked me!
Basheer: “We are farmers by profession from Kashmir. We had a beautiful life before the flood but after that, things changed drastically. We tried every possible way to get our lives back on track same as before however we failed. With nothing left to loose but some hope, we came to the city of dreams Mumbai, but I believe our destiny was trying to tell us that the flood was just a start of our worst nightmare”. Basheer continued his story with all his emotions. “We are here from past one month living on Bandra's footpath. We are around 2.5k people including women & children struggling daily to fulfil our basic needs. No one's there to help us, even the government has forgotten us”.

I told him that the funds were raised from every corner of the world to help people like you along with some basic things that you all would need during the crisis. We tried every possible thing to help the crown of India & the victims to overcome the natural disaster, we did!

Basheer (with a smile on his face) replied, “Did you or anyone who helped personally check on what kind of services & facilities reached us?” I'm not denying that we were overwhelmed with the facilities provided to us, yes we did like - the medical facilities, blankets, food, etc.; but only till the time it was covered by the news channels & newspapers (one week). Later, the whole world moved on except Kashmir & Kashmiris. We were still there, struggling & fighting for our survival, looking for our beloved ones & our land. No one showed the world, the situation of Kashmir after the flood & those services which were offered.
I convinced myself (which I really didn’t wanted too) that everything that Basheer said so far, is true, no one ever raised a question on the status of the services provided to victims of the crisis & neither anyone looked at them after the first seven days of flood. Being a media professional, I understand that a news is covered till the time it gets the TRP & after that, there are other news which has better masala in it.

Being a Mumbaikar, I have good influence in the city & I knew that I could offer them a decent job over here using my references. So I asked Basheer & Zakeer (30) if they really want to work & earn living for themselves. As expected, both of them said yes & thanked me for the help. I stay at a place where there are lot of small companies who needs labour almost every month. So, I approached Barqat Uncle, our neighbour & my father’s good friend who has a small paper box manufacturing company. I explained him the situation & asked him if there are vacancies at his place. Barqat Uncle said yes there is but… He took a pause & observed Basheer & Zakeer’s appearance and asked them few basic questions like name, hometown, etc. Then he kept his hand on my shoulders & we started walking. He asked Basheer & Zakeer to excuse us for a while. Barqat Uncle said I would have hired them if they belonged to any other part of the country but Kashmir. After noticing a strange expression on my face, he asked me few questions but I was clueless about the answers. “Do you know them personally?” Do you take their responsibility if anything goes wrong? I was confused & was trying to understand what Barqat Uncle is trying to say. He continued, look Irshad, they are Kashmiris, they could be anyone, Pakis, terrorists, anyone or they might be someone who’s really in need however I can’t take the risk of employing them at my place. Please try somewhere else.

Barqat Uncle’s words were disturbing but did make sense. I still tried seeking help from two other friends of mine but, the same story. I was disappointed with everyone’s response & came back to Basheer & Zakeer. Before I could tell them anything, Basheer read my face & said, “Its okay Irshad bhai! We know the answer as we have been facing the same from a long time now”. With tears in their eyes, Basheer said, “Now I hope you understand the options that we are left with”. Lastly, before leaving they said, “We are still thankful to you for thinking about us” & they walked away…

I really wanted to do something for them but was helpless. Basheer & Zakeer’s situation, Barqat Uncle’s words & media’s reaction left so many questions in my mind. What if they were really in need? What about those 2500 people who are out there on the streets on Bandra & many others in different cities of the country? What if Barqat Uncle would have appointed them & something seriously goes wrong? What happened to the funds, services & facilities allotted to people like them? What are people like me supposed to do in this kind of situation? Why there’s no update on the situation of Kashmir but elections? What is the government doing for the victims of these types of disasters? What kind of precautionary measures have been taken to tackle these kind of situation(s) in future?

“There are many such questions for which most of us don’t have an answer but I'm sure, these questions will rise again!!!”