Mubashir Naik
After he was left to die by his family, Ababeel’s volunteers turned out to be Messiah for a suspected covid-19 patient in Doda. Since the last few years, life hasn’t been comfortable in Jammu Kashmir and the Covid lockdown for last two years has added fuel to the fire.
Despite all the challenges, many volunteers and NGOs in these testing times have stepped up, sometimes at significant personal risk, to serve their community. Like many NGOs in Kashmir Valley, Ababeel, a Chenab valley based NGO has been working day and night to provide every possible help to people.
“Yesterday, we received a heart breaking photo on our whatsApp in which, a critically ill Covid patient was left to die in Kastigarh, almost thirty kilometers away from the district headquarters Doda. The picture and the message left us shattered but not hopeless because challenges motivate us. And it was indeed, a challenging task to shift a Covid-19 positive from such remote area to GMC, Doda. Immediately, our volunteers without wasting any time along with staff of GMC Doda swung into action and reached Kastigarh where the patient was lying,” said Advocate Babar Hasan, a founding member of Ababeel.
“As we reached there, we saw a man around sixties lying unattended in a shed. The shed had no rooftop and was in a deplorable condition. Locals informed us that the person had been abandoned by his family and relatives, a few days back, due to the fear of him being Covid positive. Our volunteers were in shock that none of the residents informed any district authority or call for any help regarding the matter,” he added.
Advocate Babar also said that every local was frightened and no body was willing to come close to help them. “Somehow, we succeeded in motivating two local youths for help and provided PPE kits to them. Our volunteers shifted the patient to GMC Doda, where despite their best effort, the doctors couldn’t save his life and he succumbed. The decreased was identified as Harmail Singh, a resident of the same area,” he told The Kashmiriyat.
“The most disheartening moment was when we saw people fleeing away from the spot with the fear for being called for help. We saw humanity dying in front of us,” said another volunteer of Ababeel.
Ababeel has been serving people, irrespective of their identity for last few years. “Being one of the leading NGOs in Chenab Valley, people have a lot of expectation from us and we try to live up to them. We are trying to help people in every difficult time. Be it some accident or providing food kits or clothes to those in need, we are always in front,” said the volunteer.