Amid the Covid-19 crisis in Kashmir, a man on his two-wheeler arrived at Mohammad Rafiq’s shop on the outskirts of Srinagar. At first, Rafi...
Amid the Covid-19 crisis in Kashmir, a man on his two-wheeler arrived at Mohammad Rafiq’s shop on the outskirts of Srinagar. At first, Rafiq thought that he might be one of his customers. But the man actually wanted to talk to Rafiq in his capacity as head of a community treasury known as the Khair-ul-Khairaat Bayt-ul-Maal at Burzahama Hazratbal.
The visitor was a businessman whose savings had been exhausted due to consecutive lockdowns since August 2019. Hesitant to ask for monetary help, he had made several trips around Rafiq’s shop before actually stopping.
“He struggled to buy food for his family and decided to visit our Bayt-ul-Maal,” Rafiq said. “That was the time I realised how grave the effect of the pandemic was on the finances of common people.”
Bayt-ul-Maal is an Arabic term that translates to “house of money” or “house of wealth”. In Kashmir, local mosques often house such community treasuries.
When the pandemic hit, Kashmir was hit hard. The had already seen rigid lockdowns since August 2019 following the revocation of the special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir by the Narendra Modi government. As overwhelmed hospitals and cash-strapped NGOs struggled to provide help, religious charities, including the community treasuries, helped to shoulder...
