A truck loaded with grains, spices, bread and biscuits rumbles into flood-ravaged Punjab from Haryana's Mewat, 500km away. The crowd erupts in joy, and through the greetings and hugs emerges a tale of triumph of the human spirit that transcends religion, region and caste.
Although the central government is yet to make any significant announcement on providing relief to the flood-hit state, singers, philanthropists, farmer unions, student organisations, mosques and gurdwaras are not only urging people to come forward but also pitching in with whatever they have.
Umar Mohammad Padla, a farmer from Ferozepur Jhirka in Mewat who led the group carrying the relief material last week, told The Telegraph that they got to know about the predicament of the residents of Punjab through social media. “When we see somebody in crisis, the human inside us feels compelled to extend a helping hand. Religion stops mattering. We immediately called a meeting and arranged whatever we could in a couple of hours and set off for Punjab,” he said.
Padla recalls how Punjabis stood by Muslims during the struggle against the National Register of Citizens and set up langars during the farmers' agitation in 2020-21 and the Covid-19 lockdown. “It (the relief material) was a small help for the people who taught the world how to stand by others and feed the hungry,” he said. The materials were distributed in Ropar.
Ferozepur, where the Sutlej has wreaked widespread damage and affected 42,000 acres of crop, has witnessed truckloads of volunteers trooping in to strengthen or build check dams.
“Muslim organisations and madrasas from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan have been providing ration. The government's efforts are not nearly as good as what these people are doing,” said Baldev Singh Shergill, a teacher of social sciences at Punjabi University’s Guru Kashi campus and one of the volunteers
Several residents of Punjab have supplied ration, medicines, machinery, tools and fodder to villages inundated by the rivers in spate. Punjabi singer Mankirt Aulakh has announced that he will provide 100 tractors to the flood-affected areas of the state. The first batch of 10 tractors has already been delivered.
Actor Sonu Sood, who was praised for helping people during the pandemic, has announced that the Sood Foundation will rebuild damaged homes in Sultanpur Lodhi. He has already distributed relief material in Mand Baupur and Sangra villages in the Sultanpur Lodhi constituency.
Actor Binnu Dhillon and his associates are paying door-to-door visits to distribute relief material in Chitti village of Gurdaspur, the worst-affected district. According to a government bulletin, over 99,000 acres of land have been affected there.
Mohammad told The Telegraph that he had gone back to Mewat and begun gathering medicines and other essentials for his next tour to Punjab in a fortnight.
Asked what draws him back to Punjab, he said: “It feels as though we are repaying an old debt.”