Nomad forever?

New Delhi, September 17

The nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals of Jammu are one of the few nomadic tribes that still exist in India. They are high altitude shepherds and goatherds who migrate to hilly areas during summers and come down to the plains in winter. The devastating Jammu and Kashmir floods spared no one as the patron of the Gujjar Bakerwal Student Welfare Committee, Talib, lost his family in the landslide following the flood. He was not at his home when the calamity struck, but he came back to see that his house had come under the mountain as if nothing had ever existed there. There was no sign of life. His home had been washed off, his parents were not found, his neighbourhood appeared alien to him. According to his friend, Arif Hussain Choudhary, a resident of Janipura, Jammu, Talib lived in Anantnag district which is one of the worst hit areas.

Arif informed, "Volunteers are doing well, Government is doing its best but army is quite selective as it tries to rescue the tourist first and then the locals. Many people lost their lives and now dead bodies are emerging out of water. With such grave magnitude of the loss of life and property, normalcy is a distant dream though the water is now receding."

He observed that everyone was playing their political card when they should come together to save lives. Kashmiri pandits are saying that the Kashmiri Muslims are facing the brunt of God because they forced pandits to leave Kashmir. He expressed his agony as he said, "Everything is being related to Islam and Muslims in incredible India. Some Muslims may be bad but not Islam."