Zakir Malik Bhallesi
At a time when the state is passing through a crucial phase as some miscreants are hell bent to create communal divide, residents of this state especially Poonch Rajouri belt have bonded their inter community relations by shouldering their responsibilities to frustrate people having communal bent of mind.
Although people have already shown high reverence to each others religion not only in Jammu but in Kashmir also, these days Baba Budhha Amarnath Ji Yatra which although is being managed by religious bodies of Hindus namely Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, has become an example of communal harmony and brotherhood where Muslims and Sikhs are contributing a lot for managing the affairs of Yatra. This reflected centuries old secular ethos of the state which need to be continued for making the state greater Jammu & Kashmir.
Recently I visited Poonch officially along with Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali where he convened a meeting to review the arrangements of Buddha Amarnath Ji Yatra following which we also visited Mandir Mandi and took the stock of the arrangements made by district administration for Yatra. It was great to see a Minister showing such a concern for Yatra. I was also surprised to know that there are local Muslim community people who are member in the Management Committees of Baba Buddha Amarnath Ji Yatra. I interacted with local Muslim people who showed great reverence towards this religious shrine. Ishrat Batt is local journalist of the area who told me that every year local people offer free stay services in their private homes for Yatries of outside the State. “We provide them food and rooms and we don’t charge anything from anybody”. These words of Ishrat Bhat attracted me to probe more on the issue. I came to know that during the period of militancy, this shrine was protected by local Muslims and they guarded it like soldiers.
It also reflects the secular ethos of Pir Panjal area that a Muslim political figure and Minister in State Government Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali reached Rajouri and flagged off this Yatra in presence of religious scholar Swami Vishwatmanand Saraswati and thousands of Yatries and local leaders. After flagging off the Yatra, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali issued a statement to press “Through this Yatra we want to give a message to the whole country on how to cement relations among different communities and how to live a peaceful life in composite culture”. Every year Charri Mubarak is welcomed by the people of Poonch especially Muslims who also offer lunch, tea and water to the pilgrims on way to Mandir Mandi. Sikhs also shows reverence to this shrine and always welcome this Yatra and become part of managing the affairs of Yatra.
The holy Temple of Baba Buddha Amarnath Ji is situated at 290 kilometers away from Jammu and North – West in Poonch district. As per religious faith, Baba resides here in snow crystal form and thus this place is famous and known as “Baba Buddha Amarnath Chattani”. This place is located between the beautiful hills and valleys in the left of the river Pulasti. The weather is always nice and enjoyable. To reach the temple, the route from Jammu is via Sundarbani, Nowshera, Rajouri, BG , Swarnkot, Chandak and than Mandi.
As per belief of Sanathan Dharam, the Chattani Baba Buddha Amarnath is worshipped as the Baba Amarnath in the “Saawan Mahina” and as per the belief the Yatra of Baba Amarnath Ji is incomplete without visiting Chattani Baba Buddha Amarnath.
Another example of communal brotherhood is always seen on the shrine of Hazrat Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah at Shahdara Sharief Rajouri where lacks of people belonging to all communities pays visits every month and also took meal jointly in the Matbakh “Kichen” of shrine which remains open for public service 24 hours. History pages reveal that It was only Hazarat Ghulam Shah Badshah’s prediction that Ghulab Singh, an ordinary soldier would become the King and sole owner of State of Jammu and Kashmir. Baba’s prediction came true and he became ruler of J&K after that it is said that Ghulab Singh became the first Hindu king who established a Shrine of a Muslim saint and set example of communal harmony. Today there is no barrier to any community to enter the premises of this shrine and pay obeisance.
The area is also blessed with Sikh religion’s great place Gurudwara Nangali Sahib which is situated in the lap of a picturesque hill and on the bank of Drungali Nallah in Poonch. It is about 4 kms from Poonch town and is one of the oldest shrines of the Sikhs in Northern India. Presently the Gurudwara complex consists of the main Gurdwara building, a Guru ka Langar free community kitchen and about 70 guest rooms. Large numbers of devotees from varying faiths visit this shrine from all over the country and world yearly. The Gurdwara was established by Thakur Bhai Mela Singh ji the fourth successor of Bhai Pheru Singh ji in 1803. In 1947, the original building got burned and was reconstructed under the supervision of Mahant Bachitar Singh ji. I came to know from locals that a gigantic function is held in the Gurudwara Sahib on the eve of Baisakhi every year in which large number of devotees from Jammu and Kashmir in particular and from around the world in general participate.
It is also the beauty of this region that Hindus organize Iftar Party in Doodha Dhari Mandir located in Chehra area of Rajouri every year where Muslims also perform Nimaz in the premises of Mandir. I was delighted to see in this region that the shrines of all religions are highly revered by all which has set an example of communal brotherhood which is the need of the hour in present time when people are hell bent to play communal card and divide the people on the name of religions, caste and creed for their petty gains. I must congratulate the people of this region for showing such a tolerance for each other and living in peaceful manner.
Examples of communal brotherhood are also seen in Kashmir province. We are well aware that how Muslims help Yatries of Amarnath yatra. Recently on July 14, 2016 we witnessed a display of humanity and religious brotherhood when local people in Bijbehara Kashmir rushed to help Amarnath pilgrims after their bus met with an accident in which two persons were killed. They defied curfew restrictions and risked their lives to rescue the Amarnath Yatra pilgrims. We saw Sikhs helping Kashmiri Muslims during 2014 flood situation in Kashmir.
A glaring display of communal Harmony was also witnessed on August 3, 2016 when Kashmiri Muslims solemnized the marriage ceremony of a Pandit girl at Habba Kadal locality in Shaher-e-Khass. Suman Koul, the girl from only Pandit family of Karfali Mohalla locality Habba Kadal was married to Ravinder Zuthshi of Ganderbal with Muslim neighbors hosting the marriage. The local Muslims had taken care that all the rituals be performed in accordance with Hindu religion.
Similarly we have a number of examples of communal harmony and brotherhood among communities in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions which need to be boosted through more religious tolerance and strengthening the bonds of love in order to defeat the nefarious designs of hatred mongers.
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