Before 1947, this was the major transit route for traders on their way to the warm water port in Karachi and then it all ended abruptly. Now, decades later, Mushtaq is helping to save and rebuild lives on this route.
Setting up ‘base’ off the army-regulated Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway in Julla, Uri, Mushtaq now lives in a room built with tin sheets. He is the "camp-in-charge" and has the distinction of having trekked to every village to the west of Julla to give solace to the quake-affected. In these mountains, where treacherous trails lead to isolated villages, Mushtaq is now a familiar face. He records the names of his beneficiaries as well as those on whom this immense tragedy has befallen.
"One day, when we were distributing tin sheets to help people rebuild their shelters, I met a lady called Nasima Hussain from the village of Sidhwanipati." As he recorded her details, he realised that she had lost both her children—five-year-old Rashid and one-year-old daughter Rafia—in the quake. "I have never felt so helpless in my life," says Mushtaq.
Sharing his efforts to rebuild lives are his two able lieutenants, Sayyed Ejaz ul Haq and Riaz Ahmed Hajam. It is soon obvious that Riaz, the youngest in the camp, is the favourite. "There isn’t a Kashmiri dish that Riaz cannot cook despite limited resources," says Mushtaq.
Besides cooking, Riaz and Sayyed have been key links to their new rehabilitation project. They undertook the first surveys of the quake-hit villages, helped identify the worst-affected and then went about distributing aid in the far-flung areas. Riaz, who helps distribute ‘angrezi’ medicines in his village for daily wages, is not worried that his work here is hurting him financially. Sayyed, a dental technician by training, is using his experience to provide aid and medicines to the villagers. Every day, he heads out into the mountains, keeping track of those who are yet to get their quota of clothes, medicines, food or tinsheets. After a brief stint in Tangdhar, Sayyed came to Uri and has been here for over a month.
As the days pass and the temperature dips below normal, all three know they are racing against time. A snowfall now could find many without shelters exposed to the numbing cold. In the distance, as a tin sheet gleams in the sunlight, they know many more need to be built in days to come.
