Kashmir is known for its guest serving (mehmaan-nawazi) from ages. Humanity is an important part of life which tells that to help others, try to understand others and realize the people problems with our own eyes and try to help them in making better solutions. For showing humanity you don’t need to be a rich person; even a poor person can show humanity by helping someone or sharing his or her food, etc. When you show humanity you have a feel click or a pinch from your inner soul which you cannot get from something else. Every religion tells us about humanity, peace and love that is why no religion is higher than humanity. “I should like to help everyone if possible, Muslims, Hindus, Christine’s, Jew, gentile, black men, white. We all want to help one another; human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another; we should like to help everyone. Same the thing has done by martyr Rouf Ahmad Dar.
“One raft capsized at the rafting point of Pahalgam’s Mawoora. It was caught in sudden gusty winds,” “All the passengers on board fell in the fast flowing water of Lidder. The tourist guide, Rouf Ahmed Dar, without caring for his own safety rescued all the tourists but lost his life.” This was neither a kind of sympathy nor a kind of kindness but a huge sacrifice of life for humanity which will be an example of great sacrifice till the world. Oh! The mightiest and noble thing he did cannot be a cup of tea for everyone and every place but merely seen in some people from rear areas and Kashmir is one among the great example of such places and people from decades. Our people had sacrificed their lives from decades and decades for the noble cause under illegal occupation instead of such cruelty Kashmir and the people here are known for their hospitality. Millions and billions tourists visited Kashmir every year and the number adds every next year also, it is only because of the real nature and care love of the people of Kashmir that every tourist wishes to come back next time before departing from here. Rouf had made it stronger that no biasness no means of unfair activity & absent regionalism is created here. This is the teaching of our religion (Islam) too that sacrifice is not you kill the innocent people but the big sacrifice is when you save the people. Rouf saved the life of five tourists but lost his life is the great martyrdom. He raised the slogan of peace the slogan of Islam and the slogan of people of Kashmir which they want to have had from last seventy years. It is a message to every non Kashmiri that people of Kashmir are caring and hospitable like the hero of our Kashmir martyr Rouf Ahmad Dar, we never hate India but the policies they adopted here, we want to live in peace which we have had promoted every time. Kashmir has zero ratios as compared to other places of tourism in tourist misbehaving and tourism corruption activities.
Rouf is not the only one but there are a number of such examples of love and care for tourists in Kashmir from time to time. My big salute to the brave hearted Rouf Ahmad Dar and deep condolence with the family of this brave son of the soil. Few things require more courage than putting your life in grave risk for others, particularly if they are strangers. By any measure, that’s humanity at its finest. While he died tragically in an exemplary display of humanity, selfless champions like Dar awaken our shared humanity and what we can do is take his example forward and help people whenever we can, in our own capacities. This would be the best way to honour his life.
Aadil Gulam Dar is a poet, writer, debater and blogger (M.A. Education Aligarh Muslim University)
