Rakib Altaf
SRINAGAR, June 26: On Monday morning as the shrine of an 11th century Sufi saint, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Geelani- known in Kashmir as Dastgeer Sahab- was gutted in fire, thousands of men and women wailed and mourned.
The incident sent shock waves across the valley with people from all corners heading towards Khanyar in old Srinagar-where the centuries-old shrine was located.
An impression of how big a loss it was for the people came from nowhere but the scene of the tragedy itself.
Showing no signs of precaution or care for their own lives, scores of youth, some even teenaged, jumped into the shrine immediately after the flames began to subside a bit, after devouring much of old wooden structure, to douse the flames.
They wanted to retrieve whatever they could of the things inside; even the relics were retrieved by a group of local youth.
But then the blaze was still there; and burning debris and embers kept falling from the roof.
A youth Imran Zehgeer said, “We had no other option, did we? The fire department was slothful and didn’t seem to be interested in helping. Just imagine they ran out of water a lot of times.”
Many of Zehgeer’s friends also joined him in the ‘operation’. Some climbed to the roof top of an adjacent mosque to muzzle the flames from spreading. Many escaped death as they almost fell from the top and a few broke down due to the baking heat.
But, undaunted they carried on, loaded with water guns brought by firemen who were chased-off by another group of emotionally charged youngsters blaming them for laxity in their approach.
For Abrar Gul, the shrine was the “biggest treasure” that he and his family just couldn’t live without. “Dastgeer Sahab is our biggest support and the aastaan (shrine) is where we just run to when we want something. So I didn’t care risking my life for it,” he says.
But what kept away from him the thought that anything could have happened, even death? To this Gul replies, “When the aastaan was burning in front of my eyes, my mind just stopped thinking and I jumped into the shrine. Now I think that I could have really died, but even then I don’t care.”
The display the spirit of these youth continued till noon; they collected rubble and also looked for remaining embers, leaving no chance for the fire to start again.
The fire incident brought down something whose historical value spans centuries, but it showed how strong faith drives among the people of Kashmir, especially the modern youth.
“It would have been of pride to me if I had died saving the aastaan. We all have to die. And our religion is what our blood runs in our veins for,” says Sheikh Ikhlaq, who had rushed early morning from home.
“If my blood isn’t of use for my Dastgeer Sahab, then why should I have it? What for?” he adds.
(The author is a trainee with The Hindustan Times)
