Lockdown in Kashmir since mid-March has put added strain on those who were already reeling under economic stress due to months of restrictions since August 2019, when the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked.
To offer them relief amid the Covid-19 crisis, many administrative agencies and social organizations have come forward to feed the poor and provide safety kits to health workers. But there are also a significant number of common people who, without any institutional support, have been silently helping those in need.
As soon as Kashmir’s first Covid-19 cases were reported, Maknoo and his two friends decided to contribute in whatever way they could. He noticed that not only common people but even doctors were desperately looking for face masks. “The first thing we did was to hire a few tailors to sew cloth masks. Within days we managed to produce 2,000 masks,” said Maknoo, who has a distribution business of provisional food items.
Soon they realised that the problem was more severe than the scarcity of masks, people were getting short of food and essentials too as the lockdown kept extending. More like-minded people joined them and they decided to distribute food kits comprising rice, flour, spices, dals, and soaps to the needy. “It was very challenging. People here were already in deep stress since August 2019 and the lockdown meant that thousands of daily wagers, cart pullers, laborers, drivers and elderly were in desperate need,” he said.
“To cater to their monthly requirement, we distributed 500 food kits in the urban areas of Baramulla and then in the second phase, to some 850 families in the district’s rural parts,” he said.
Sharmeen Mushtaq Nizami with his three colleagues has been running a trust to help critical care patients buy medicines and other treatments. A medical officer at a government hospital, Nizami says she experienced pain very closely when her husband died of pancreatic cancer. “We are in this field and see how patients suffer. One feels their pain and witnesses them get economically drained due to diseases like cancer. When I help, it gives me joy,” she said.
They provide financial assistance and arrange medicines for patients suffering from life-consuming diseases like cancer, and those needing dialysis and post-transplant patients. “We sponsor some patients monthly, but during the past two months, we saw things becoming more difficult. Patients going through kidney dialysis, hypertension, cancer, and diabetes, and post-transplant approached us during these days. We help them get medicines at their doorsteps,” she said.
Feroz Ahmad Kuchay witnessed poverty at a young age after his father’s death. So, when he started earning, he made it a point to help those in need. For the past four years, he along with a group of like-minded people has been providing monthly food kits to dozens of families in the Old City area of Srinagar.
“When Covid-19 cases started here, I thought more needed to be done as many people who once used to be my donors were in need of help during the lockdown,” he said adding, “My faith wants me to help those in need and it gives me solace.”
He prepared food kits apart from those he used to deliver monthly to the needy. “For the past two months, we have helped some 70 families by providing them flour, spices, cooking oil, ghee, etc,” he said. “Some come seeking cash assistance to buy their medicines and we help them,” he said.
When the lockdown was imposed, Mushtaq Ahmad Rigoo, a resident of Khrew in Pulwama, saw how the only ambulance at the public health centre near his home was insufficient to cater to critical patients needing medical attention. He and his brother then decided to utilise their two vehicles to help patients reach hospitals.
“We shared our number in WhatsApp groups and pasted posters for ill-patients looking to reach hospitals. Since then, I have been ferrying people without any charge and even delivering them medicines at their doorsteps,” he said.
“We helped around 150 patients reach hospitals in Srinagar, eight of whom were due for childbirth. Once the local SHO asked me to bring back youth from Jammu whose detention orders were revoked. I took his father along and travelled 600km to and fro,” he said.
“There is no reward better than the peace of mind one gets upon doing a good deed,” he said.
Zubair Ahmad Dar was shocked when he saw a social media post by a doctor in March saying that shortage of protective gear was putting their and patients’ lives in danger. “I knew our medical system was in a shambles, but I thought at least our doctors should be able to treat without fear,” he said.
He and a few others met a health official to know about what could be done to help. “They needed PPE kits, so we asked them to provide us with some samples of the same. We hired tailors and started making PPE kits,” Dar said.
“We used to visit Srinagar during the night amid the lockdown to arrange material for the kits. Within a few weeks, we managed to produce 1,000 kits with 300 of them being waterproof,” he said.
“Then demands started pouring in for masks and face shields from hospitals, police and even journalists. We managed to produce some 10,000 non-woven face masks. We made the face shields using stationery items like plastic transparent file covers etc,” he said.
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