Urdu Book Review

A saga of love, fortitude and optimism amidst ruins

By

Amar Nath Wadehra

Yeh khandar bhi merey hain by Kashmiri Lal Zakir
Buzm-e-khizar-e-rah. Pages: 123. Price: Rs. 175/-

When a writer feels impelled to pick up a pen to write about suffering humanity there can be only one reason for it – unadulterated empathy, which in turn is a product of heightened sensitivity and deep insight. The writing becomes all the more effective and cerebral if it is backed with informed imagination. Kashmiri Lal Zakir has all these qualities as witnessed in more than one hundred of his books. This volume is but one more proof of his acumen. In fact the very title (rough translation: these ruins belong to me too) shows the extent and depth of the author’s feelings for the stricken.

According to popular belief destruction and reconstruction is the nature’s way of maintaining balance in the universe. It is believed that when sin and atrocities exceed a certain limit and when the earth gets over-burdened with all sorts of excesses then nature restores balance by resorting to extremities like tsunami, earthquakes and other natural calamities. Be that as it may, but it is true that earthquakes are a horrid reality. We can give several examples from the recent past, viz., Quetta (31 May, 1935), Pakistan (28 December 1974), Nepal (20 August 1988), India (19 October 1991, 03 September 1998 and 26 January 2001) and Afghanistan (4 Feb 1998, May 1998, and 25 March 2002) etc.

On 08 October 2005 Kashmir was hit by an extremely destructive quake which had its epicenter in Muzaffarabad located in POK. With one stroke it turned the paradise on earth into a veritable hell. Thousands of people – men and women, young and old, rich and poor belonging to different communities died, wounded or became handicapped for life.

Whether these were humble residences of common folks or mansions of the rich furnished with all possible luxuries – all were razed to dust. People, who lay helpless under the debris, were crying out for a sip of water. They were praying to the almighty for deliverance unaware whether these prayers were reaching Him or not. Almost every country around the world offered help. The Government of India empathized with the suffering masses in POK and unhesitatingly dispatched all essential items in truckloads – which after all was, and still is, part of India under Pakistan’s illegal occupation.

Zakir has provided many touching eyewitness accounts in this volume. Some are recounted below.
Flowers do bloom even amidst thorns, thus inspiring man to persevere in quest of life. The month of Ramadan had begun. A girl named Safina, with the permission of her father, had taken goats out for grazing. Suddenly the quake struck and huge boulders rolled down the mountains. Safina got crushed under one such rock. Barring a leg the entire body was under the rock; her father, Nazeer Abbasi, could identify her by looking at the leg. He pleaded with many passersby to help him take out the body from under the rock but to no avail as everybody was in panic. At last a team of 15 BSF jawans came to his rescue a la angels from heaven. They removed the boulder and retrieved the body, thus offering solace to the grieving father.

Zakir also provides a journalist’s eyewitness account in these words, “I met a boy among these ruins who was frequently searching his coat’s pockets. I asked him what he was looking for. The boy shyly gave me a piece of paper and said that it was his beloved’s love letter which she had sent through someone. When I read it I was moved by its contents that said that when the earthquake struck she called out the boy’s name instead of God’s”. Truly, love can bloom even among thorns and ruins.
Two childhood friends, one of whom had migrated to Pakistan, came face to face at a command post. They could not embrace each other, only conversed from a distance of ten feet – as ordered by the authorities on both sides who had set up five posts to facilitate interaction between people from both sides of the LOC; telephone facilities too were provided.

Zakir also cites The Tribune reporter, Aditi Tandon, who had visited the affected areas. She saw that the area’s children were attending classes among ruins while adults were trying to rebuild their houses. Although governments on both sides provided help it was not enough. Even today people are waiting for help to reconstruct their lives.

This book has stories of poignant moments, of common folks’ gri

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