LUCKNOW: Two Muslim brothers of Kanpur are sending out a message of communal harmony as the epitomes of brotherhood transcending the boundaries of religion and faith by engaging in the service of Amarnath yatris at Baltal base camp where they had reached much before the yatra commenced.
With the intent to serve the pilgrims going to the revered shrine of Amarnath, Irshad and Shamshad, who drive loader in Kanpur, approached the Shiv Sevak Samiti of Kanpur, headed by Raghunandan Bhadauria, the BJP MLA of Kanpur Cantt, and volunteered to go to Baltal for the service of devotees.
In fact, the Shiv Sevak Samiti, is an organisation which takes goods for langar and other amenities for the Amarnath devotees every year. The Samiti puts up its camp in Baltal and serves the devotees at langer. “However, this time the samiti delegation has also taken five e-rickshaws to help the senior citizens in reaching closer to the cave shrine,” says Sheelu Verma, Samiti’s general secretary.
The BJP MLA also stays at the camp during the entire yatra to oversee the operations of samiti and he is at the camp currently. Verma said that this year when samiti was sending goods to Baltal for the camp and langar, a loader driver Irshad approached them and expressed his wish to go to Baltal. Irshad along with his brother Shamshad took the goods on loader driving it from Kanpur to Baltal on minimum charges.
On reaching Baltal, Irshad and Shamshad, who had gone to deliver the goods for the camp and the langer, decided to stay back with other members of Shiv Sewa Samiti and serve the devotees.
As per Verma, first both went to the shrine to have darshan of Lord Shiva and then started their service to the devotees at the base camp. With their loader parked at the camp, both the brothers are driving e-rickshaw to ferry the devotees till 2.5 km on Baradi road in a bid to minimise the hardships of the route to Shrine. As per the Seva Samiti sources, even the shrine board, having acknowledged their services, has issued the card of ‘Sevadaar’ to both the brothers.
Ahead of Baradi Road where they leave the devotees, they help them with crossing the cave route though Gyan Giri Ashram. They even take the senior citizens and physically challenged people on their back to the destination. They help at least 180-200 devotees to reach the shrine daily.
Earning their livelihood by driving the loader in Kanpur, Irshad and Shamshad hail from Juhi Gadha locality of the city. Having lost their father in early age, both the brothers are supported by mother Munni who sells vegetables at Juhi.