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Chief Minister Omar Abdullah consoles a resident in Kishtwar, Saturday. (Express)
In Kishtwar, people often recall an age-old saying in the Dogri language which roughly translates to “Whom Mata Machail protects, none can harm”. Nowhere did this faith ring truer than in Chishoti village during rescue operations on Friday. Amid the devastation caused by the cloudburst, Subhash Chandra, who had been running a langar (community kitchen) for Mata Machail pilgrims, was rescued alive after being trapped under debris for nearly 30 hours.
“Whom God saves, no one can kill is a saying here. Subhash, who has been serving devotees for so many years, feeding them selflessly, was protected by Mata herself,” said LoP Sunil Sharma, who had been overseeing the rescue operations in the village. “The greatest gift of his life is that Mata saved him.”
Subhash, from Udhampur, has long considered serving the devotees of Mata his duty. Every pilgrimage season, he, along with his colleagues, used to set up a langar to feed thousands of yatris who trekked through the mountains. His langar was swept away when flash floods occurred in the afternoon. Many pilgrims at the site were buried under logs and rubble. Rescue teams of Army, police, NDRF, SDRF and local volunteers were clearing debris near the langar on Friday when they discovered him alive. He was eventually shifted to the Kishtwar district hospital for specialised treatment, and later discharged, Naib Tehsildar Sushil Kumar said.
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