Keeper of last goodbyes

Pahalgam, Jun 4: By the time the call reached Majid Hussain Sheikh on Monday afternoon, rescue teams had already spent more than a day searching the Lidder stream for a Srinagar man who disappeared after jumping into the water to save his son.
For Sheikh, better known as Hamza, the decision was immediate.
Within an hour, the 28-year-old volunteer rescuer from Doda had left home. 

He travelled overnight and reached Pahalgam late Monday, joining the search operation the next morning.
“It is humanity that brought me here,” Hamza said. “A family is waiting for answers.”
The search is for Muhammad Ashraf Mir, 42, a resident of Jawahar Nagar in Srinagar, who was swept away on Sunday after entering the Lidder near Langanbal, about 8 km downstream of Pahalgam, to rescue his teenage son Fahad during a family outing.
The boy survived. 

His father was swept away by strong currents.
Five days later, personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Police, Army, Civil Defence volunteers, and locals continue to search stretches of the river downstream from where Mir was last seen.
For the family, the search has shifted from rescue to recovery.
“At least we can see him one last time and bury him according to our traditions,” a relative at the search site said. “That will bring some relief to the family.”

The call from Mir’s relatives was not unusual.
Across the Chenab Valley and increasingly in Kashmir, families reach out to Hamza when loved ones disappear into rivers, streams, canals or reservoirs.
“I mostly work in the Chenab Valley because that is where most of our operations take place,” Hamza said. “But whenever somebody is swept away in Kashmir, people call me. If I can help, I go.”
His journey into river rescues began with a personal tragedy.
In 2008, one of his cousins, a capable swimmer drowned in the Chenab River near Baghlihar dam. Despite days of searching, the family could not recover him.
“We could not  bring him back , neither find his body,” Hamza said. “That pain stayed with me.”
The experience pushed him towards the river rather than away from it.
At 11, he joined his first body recovery operation.

“That experience was different,” Hamza said. “I realised what it means for a family to get their loved one back.”
He later began training under his uncle, Mushtaq Ahmed Sheikh, a veteran rescuer known in the Chenab region for decades of recovery work in dangerous waters.
Under his guidance, Hamza learned to read currents, identify likely recovery points and navigate some of the most difficult stretches of river.
Those skills later became part of Chenab Rescuers, a volunteer organisation established in 2012 that has recovered more than 1500 bodies from rivers and water bodies across Jammu and Kashmir.

“We dont stop to think if it is a body or someone still alive,” Hamza said. “We just go.”
He estimates he has personally participated in the recovery of 700 to 800 bodies and helped save dozens of people from drowning. 
“We have also saved at least 40 to 50 people including women, children and tourists,” Hamza said.
The work has earned him recognition across the region, though he attributes it to faith rather than skill.
“I have earned a lot of respect because of this work,” he said. “But it is all Allah’s will. He gave me the passion to do this noble work.”
Away from rescue operations, life remains difficult.

Hamza lost his father in 2013 and now helps support his mother, three brothers and two sisters. 
He works as a driver and often leaves work when emergency calls arrive.
“We somehow manage to run the family,” Hamza said. “But when somebody calls for help, I cannot refuse.”
Neither Hamza nor members of Chenab Rescuers charge families for their services. 

Most volunteers are drivers, labourers or daily-wage workers who leave their jobs whenever emergencies arise.
“When there is an accident, we leave whatever work we are doing and go,” Hamza said.
Resources remain limited.

“We have only two swimsuits and a boat,” Hamza said. “There are no oxygen tanks or advanced equipment. Most of our work depends on experience.”
Much of that experience comes from the Chenab, a river known for strong currents, freezing waters and low visibility.
Compared with it, Hamza said, the Lidder is less severe but still challenging.

“The depth and flow of the Lidder and even several other streams and rivers in Kashmir are not like the Chenab,” he said. “Local youth here are also helping because they know the terrain. I am used to the Chenab, but here they guide me about the places where bodies can get trapped.”
His work has taken him beyond his home region.
Earlier this year, he travelled to Shopian to assist in the search for four-year-old Mohammad Hunzala of Pulwama, who slipped into the RambiaraNallah while on a picnic. 

The child’s body was recovered after days of searching.
Some recoveries remain difficult to forget.
One involved a young girl who went missing near the Baglihar hydroelectric project.
The search lasted nearly two months before her body was recovered.
“There are things you never forget,” Hamza said quietly.
The emotional toll often lingers long after operations end.

“The hardest part is seeing families wait,” Hamza said. “Everybody we recover is somebody’s entire world.”
Back on the banks of the Lidder, Mir’s family continues to wait as rescuers scan the river even amid heavy rains.
Among them is Hamza, preparing for another sweep of the water.
“I will stay until we find him,” he said.