As the Srinagar-Ladakh highway remains closed due to the snow in the area for the past seven days, many truck drivers are stranded there.
On Monday, while returning from Kargil towards Srinagar, a group of Kashmiri drivers helped an elderly non-local Sikh driver who was shivering because of cold.
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Kashmiri drivers gave him warm clothes and Kangri to warm himself.
The video was widely shared by the netizens.
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This is not the first incident of its the where Kashmiri locals have helped others, There are many other incidents too where Kashmiris have helped others.
On 9 July 2016, Kashmiri Youth rescued a soldier who was trapped inside a mangled vehicle which had met with an accident on Srinagar Bypass road near Lasjan area of the Srinagar city.
“Local Kashmiri youth rushed to the spot and managed to bring the injured army jawan out by placing a truck next to the damaged army vehicle”.
Some passersby shot the entire incident on their mobile phones.
The video of the incident has been widely shared on ‘youtube’ and other social networking sites. The incident came amidst the civilian uprising of 2016. which has claimed 84 lives and thousands of others injured in clashes between protestors and security forces.
In July 2016, local residents of Bijbehara in south Kashmir Anantnag district defied curfew to rescue over 20 Amarnath pilgrims whose vehicle had met an accident during the civilian uprising of 2016.
Most recently in August, a photo of an Army man was widely shared on social media who were injured when the army vehicle had skidded off the highway near Lethapora. With no thought of the spread of infection from the COVID-19 virus, the locals helped the soldiers recover and offered them food and water.
Many took to social media, posting pictures with the caption, “This is Kashmiriyat, This is insaniyat”.
In September 2017, a video showing locals helping accident hit soldiers went viral on social media. The driver of an army truck in central Kashmir’s Budgam district had lost control of the vehicle which veered off the road, resulting in minor injuries to several soldiers. The locals helped evacuate the injured soldiers from the truck.
Incidents of stone-pelting and clashes with security forces have always been reported from Kashmir, But instances of good relations between the people of Kashmir and the forces seldom make the news.
However, the fact is that Kashmiris have never turned their backs on people who have been involved or injured in accidents, whoever those people may be.
Kashmiris have always been known for their strong sense of humanity, as the security forces in the state will testify.
Edited by Mohsina Malik