Shattered by the October 8 quake, their home and hearth gone, this Haj-bound group from Tangdhar has not lost faith in the Almighty.As 55-year-old Ghulam Mohiuddin Chowdary and his wife Zuliqa Khatoon along with 45 residents of quake-ravaged Tangdhar left on the holy journey from Srinagar, they had a glow on their faces and a prayer on their lips that God would set every thing right. ‘‘God has taken everything from us and he will return all,’’ said a beaming Chowdary, whose two houses in Tangdhar were razed in the quake. The family is living in a shed.‘‘It was God’s will,’’ said Mohammad Imran, another Tangdhar resident who left on the pilgrimage this morning. ‘‘After the quake destroyed our houses, snatched our loved ones and destroyed our lives, all of us developed more faith in God,’’ he added.Another Tangdhar resident, Mohommad Yousuf Baba, whose house, too, was razed in the quake said, ‘‘It was a test for us. After the earthquake, we make sure that every Namaz is offered at all the mosques. We remembered God in such a situation and now we are going to fulfill the fundamental duty of Islam, which is to perform Haj.’’‘‘We will pray that such disasters don’t hit us again,’’ said Habla Banday, a pilgrim from Baramulla. ‘‘We will also pray for long-lasting peace in the state,’’ she added. This year, more than 9,000 people from the state would perform Haj.There is only one flight to Mecca from Srinagar till December 17. ‘‘After December 17, two more flights will take off,’’ Showkat Ali, the Haj officer, Srinagar, who is also a representative of the Central Haj committee said.The Haj and Auqaf minister, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed and the convenor of the state’s Haj Committee, B B Vyas, visited the Tourist Reception Centre and interacted with the pilgrims and their attendants.
