‘Fire of hunger’, a netizen wrote, is compelling this Kashmiri child to ‘sell warmth of life’.
A child kangri-seller on the streets of Srinagar has caught web and triggered a community campaign as Kashmir braces up for the season of firepots in the impending winter.
The virtual support that stemmed in the afternoon of October 28 even involved a mayor and a bureaucrat — throwing their weight behind the preteen engaged in a street survival pursuit.
“Rafaqat Ali, an orphan, class 5th student in Govt Middle school Shodma Hawal sells firepots for (kangris) at MK Chowk Hawal to support his family of 5 including his mother, brother and two sisters,” tweeted Mohsin Hussain War, a veterinarian.
“If you want to buy a kangri in Srinagar, kindly buy few from him to support him.”
However, while amplifying the support, many netizens cautioned against mishandling the case: “Buy from him to keep his dignity.”
The support call soon received a massive public traction involving mayor Junaid Azim Mattu who marked the case to his colleague. The appeal was curtly supported by IAS officer, Yasha Mudgal.
Arguing that his schooling comes first, many netizens petitioned the child’s case to higher authorities for immediate assistance.
A Kashmiri netizen, however, asserted that a better solution would be a “welfare state” which can provide social security to the child and many others like him who suffer on a daily basis.
“Poor children,” he wrote, “need their rights; their right to a dignified life and to education.”
A quick background story, however, revealed that Rafaqat was rendered orphan some four years ago — when his father, according to his neighbour, became a victim of blood cancer.
“The poor family had no means to save their ailing headman,” the neighbour said. “They saw him dying each day in front of their eyes. They could do nothing about it except crying their hearts out. The pain made them numb. Their poor father eventually died a miserable death in their shanty.”
Since then, little Rafaqat has been growing up with daily slog and struggles. Unlike the boys of his age, he has mostly led a childhood of depravity and distress. His glum face, aloof body-language and a lost gaze give away his existential anguish.
Even though Rafaqat’s elder brother is working as a shuttering worker and his mother a peon, the neighbour informed, it hardly sustains the family of five.
“So,” he says, “they now have a third earning hand in the family who should’ve been learning at this stage and age.”
One of Rafaqat’s sisters has lately quitted studies to manage home, leaving only him and his sister in school now.
“This boy from Badamwari colony attends school till 3pm every day before arriving at Mirza Kamil Chowk with his small stock of kangris,” says a shopkeeper in the bustling square.
“His story is sad, but his spirit makes him a resilient soul.”
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