Srinagar, June 3: Crowd fundraising produced Rs 80 lakhs and more was streaming into the family’s bank account only 24 hours after a desperate plea for aid was made by the family of a cancer sufferer in J&K’s Pulwama region.
A family in the Pulwama area that was treating their daughter for leukaemia (blood cancer) had to sell all they had to make ends meet. They had nothing to keep the therapy going.
After the family posted an urgent plea for aid on social media, money began to flood into their bank account as if they had touched Aladdin’s magic lamp.
Within less than 24 hours, Rs 80 lakhs had been transferred via crowd fundraising, prompting the family to issue another social media plea, thanking its supporters and requesting them to stop donating further money.
Things like these were unheard of in Kashmir until a few decades ago. In the past, there was no feeling of social obligation, save when a poor man might give food or clothing to a beggar on the street.
“Kashmir society has been baptised by fire because of the indescribable amount of misery, death, destruction, loss of social connect, and so on since violence began here in the early 1990s.” There is barely a family that has not been affected by this misery, either directly or indirectly. “Seeing death and destruction up close has taught Kashmiris the value of social cohesion and oneness,” said Dr Farah Qayoom, a sociology professor at the University of Kashmir.
“If your neighbour suffered yesterday as a result of the pervasive violence over the last 33 years, it could be you today.” This has solidified the residents’ social ethos in more ways than one. Kashmiris have recognised the relevance and significance of community duty in addition to individual obligations.
“This is why the Valley has reputable orphanages and charitable institutions.” “Before 1990, the only institutions we had were old age homes and a few government-run orphanages,” she said.
Crowdfunding, NGOs performing remarkable work in healthcare, childcare, and other sectors of Kashmiri civil society demonstrate that hardship and misery are excellent instructors.
