Their first halt was Gulabgarh, a town in Padder, from where they proceeded on August 11 toward Chisoti, a base camp along the Bhot Nalla, a tributary of the Chenab River.

From there, they crossed an under-construction bridge on foot and rode motorcycles for 5 km along a dirt road before trekking another 5 km to reach the shrine at Machail village.

They spent August 12 and 13 at the temple before beginning their return journey on August 14. That morning, the group reached Chisoti, unaware it would be their last stop.

Most of the group had gathered at Chisoti’s two temples – the Kali Mata and Nag Deva shrines – where local priests Bodh Raj and Dena Nath were leading bhajans and prayers.

Others were eating tea and maize bread at roadside stalls or sitting down to have lunch at the community kitchen when a sudden cloudburst triggered flash floods around noon.

The wall of water, carrying debris and boulders, tore through the camp in seconds.

Pilgrims and locals were swept away, as were the two priests.

Dena Nath’s body was found the same day, and Bodh Raj’s remains are missing.

“The entire group was washed away in the blink of an eye,” said Amit, a shopkeeper from Jammu who had set up a makeshift hotel at Chisoti.

Six of his relatives, including two women and four children aged seven, nine, 12, and 15, are still missing.

The body of one woman, Mamata Rani, was recovered downstream that afternoon, but her sister and two children remain untraced.

Happy Singh, 35, from Bari Brahmana, was among those combing through the makeshift camp set up by the Revenue Department in Chisoti.

With his cousin Balveer Singh, 30, he looked for his mother Santosh Devi and aunt Surashti Devi, who were among the missing.

Their children – Shagu Devi, daughter of Shawan of Muthi Domana; Sushma Devi, daughter of Sham Lal of Muthi Domana; and Sahil Sharma, son of Mohan Lal of Digyana – were also swept away.

“Their names weren’t on the list of deceased or injured,” Singh said, his voice breaking. “I had no choice but to register them as missing.”

Sudesh Kumari, the wife of Tilak Raj of Bari Brahmana, who had joined the group as a friend, is also missing.

Two members – Sahil Sharma, son of Dev Raj of Udhampur, and Sharda Devi, wife of Bidya Ram of Jammu – were later recovered from the Chenab.

But many others remain unaccounted for, including Vanisha Mehra, daughter of Rajesh Kumar of Jalandhar, and Shivani Kumari, daughter of late Bal Krishan Parshad from Uttar Pradesh.

“I came here the very first day,” Singh said, consoled by his cousin. “But I have given up all hope of recovering their bodies.”

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF DISASTER

Amit, who witnessed the disaster, described the moment as “doomsday descending.”

“The weather was sunny when suddenly dark clouds gathered, followed by lightning and a loud bang,” he said. “Then came the roaring water, carrying trees, stones, and mud. People had no time to react.”

He said some 100 people survived by clinging to rocks, trees, or debris.

Others were buried under mounds of mud or swept into the Chenab.

Two children were miraculously rescued alive after eight and 24 hours.

Four CISF personnel camped on duty were also swept away.

Two bodies were recovered immediately, while the leg of a third was found trapped in the rocks of Bhot Nalla.

The fourth remains missing.

“Yesterday, six bodies were recovered. Today only one,” Amit said. “The Chenab is unforgiving. Once a week has passed, only dismembered parts may surface.”

Sawant Singh, 22, whose mother and sister were serving tea at their stall on the riverbank, also lost his house.

“The bodies of countless people drowned in the Chenab have never been recovered,” he said. “I have no hope of finding my mother and sister.”

RESCUE OPERATIONS AND MOUNTING DESPAIR

Ten relief camps have been set up across the Kishtwar district, where families have registered missing relatives.

Officials say 87 names have been recorded so far from Jammu, Udhampur, Reasi, Kathua, Samba, Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, and even Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab.

Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA from Padder, Sunil Sharma, joined SDRF and NDRF personnel in search operations, even jumping into the river with rescuers to retrieve a body.

But villagers say the chances of recovery diminish with each passing day. “The Chenab is not like the Tawi in Jammu or the Lidder in Kashmir.

It runs with full force until it merges into the Indus in Pakistan,” said Amit. “Bodies vanish in its depths.”

PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH AND PERIL

The Machail Mata Yatra is among the most revered Hindu pilgrimages in Jammu and Kashmir, blending devotion with arduous travel. Rediscovered in 1981 by Thakur Kulveer Singh of Bhaderwah, the shrine gained prominence when he began the annual Chhadi Yatra in 1987. Since then, thousands trek each year from Chisoti to Machail village in Paddar.

The route demands resilience: pilgrims cross streams, traverse dirt roads on motorcycles, and trek rugged Himalayan terrain to glimpse the deity.

For the 18-member group, that sacred journey turned into tragedy, their chants silenced by the Chenab’s roar.

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In his message of felicitation, the Chief Minister highlighted the profound significance of this sacred event, stating that it reaffirms the truthfulness, greatness and devotion of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to Almighty Allah.

“Shab-i-Meraj is a testament to the unparalleled honesty, integrity and spiritual eminence of the beloved Prophet (SAW),” he said.

On this auspicious occasion, the Chief Minister prayed for peace, prosperity and communal harmony across Jammu and Kashmir.

He urged people to follow the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to build a society rooted in compassion, tolerance and unity.

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‘’We have never destroyed a town unless it has a set time. No nation can bring its time forward, nor can they delay it’’ (15: 4/5)

The Holy Verses were revealed as Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) faced argumentative response on revealing the message. There were questions on sanity, questions on angels:

‘’And they said, O you who received the message, you are insane. Why do you not bring us the angels, if you are truthful’’ ((15: 6/7)

The answers to these queries were revealed in the message, ordaining that angels do not descend without reason, and when they do come it is to fulfil a divine errand:

‘’We do not send the angels down without reason, and they will not be held back’’ (15:8)

Allah (SwT) does not send down the angels except when the times comes for the manifestations of the results of the actions of the wrong-doers and then no respite is given, as is implicit in the message—they will not be held back.

The Holy Verses that followed the warning on the fate of nations, ordaining that, ‘’We have never destroyed a town unless it has a set time.  No nation can bring its time forward, nor can they delay it’’ were meant to convey not to invite Allah’s wrath by asking for angels, as the descent of angels could herald, what they would hardly imagine. The relevance of message and the stress on preserving it follows:

‘’Surely We revealed the Message, and We will surely preserve it’’ (15:9)

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‘’If only there was one town that believed and benefited by its belief, except for the people of Jonah. When they believed, We removed from them the suffering of disgrace, in the worldly life, and We gave them comfort for a while’’ (10:98)

It is related that Jonah left his people thinking that they were doomed, unless they believed. They reasoned and reflected. And, professed belief before chastisement overtook them. They were thus saved from disgrace, which they would have otherwise faced, had they not believed, and adhered to faith. Their belief before any calamity struck them provided them comfort for a while, which could be taken to mean as long the belief, the faith lasted.

It follows thus that even in the all-important matter of belief and faith, freedom of choice is the norm—the divine norm. Otherwise, it was not beyond Almighty God to make people who dwell on earth to believe:

‘’Had your Lord willed, everyone on earth would have believed. Will you compel people to be believers’’ (10:99)

If human beings had not been endowed with freedom of choice, all those who dwell on earth would have been made to believe. Keeping in view the divine norm, the message contained in Holy Quran puts a question to the messenger—Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) that given the divine norm, will you compel people to be believers? Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) carried the message of belief and faith, it was left to people to reason and reflect.

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‘’Mankind was a single community; then they differed. Were it not from a prior decree from your Lord, the matters over which they had disputed would have been settled’’ (10: 19)

The significance of the Holy Verse lies in the fact that in spite of an enforced unity being very much within the prowess of the Lord of the universe; it was left to be devised by free will and choice of diverse groups of people differing in belief. It is clearly ordained that the matters over which people differed would have been settled, were it not from a prior decree of Lord.

The prior decree, as it stands, rules out an enforced union. Instead, the decree opts for diverse groups of people uniting by free will and choice. The decree thus sought to unite people by prophetic missions. The prophets carried the divine message inviting people to shape their lives, as per the divine commands.

The ultimate objective of prophetic missions, including the mission of Prophet of Islam-Hazrat Mohammad (SaW) was to eliminate the differences among human beings and make them one Ummah, as was the order at the very initiation of human race, when mankind constituted a single community. The differences cropped up and they split over matters of belief and faith.

The divine intervention did not come about in enforcing the union of people. Instead, it came about in the form of healing process. The process worked on easing out whatever wrong had crept in over a period of time and substituting it gradually with whatever was deemed right in the divine order.

This was thus the prime objective of prophetic missions in different epochs, entailing union of people by working on their sensitivities, getting free will into play to make the right choice, and tread the evened path.

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He prayed for peace, prosperity, happiness and well-being of all.

In his address, the LG extended his heartiest greetings to the people and recalled the vision of Guru Gobind Singh Ji for a just and inclusive society.

“I bow to the venerable Sri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ji. Guruji’s message of selfless service, truthfulness, sacrifice, equality, and universal love is an abiding source of inspiration for all of us,” he said

On this day in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the 10th Guru, formalised the concept of Saint-Soldier by introducing the Amrit ceremony and transformed the Sikhs into a family of Saints-Soldiers, known as the Khalsa Panth,” he said.

LG Sinha said a collective name given to the first five Khalsa is Panj Pyare.

The Panj Pyare who were baptised by Guru Gobind Singh Ji were – Bhai Daya Singh, Bhai Dharam Singh, Bhai Himmat Singh, Bhai Mohkam Singh, and Bhai Sahib Singh.

The LG called upon the youth to follow the ideals that Guru Gobind Singh Ji espoused throughout his life and strive relentlessly toward the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden.

“On this Baisakhi, let us resolve to tread the path shown by Guru Gobind Singh Sahib,” he said.

The LG paid tributes to those martyred in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

“The courage and supreme sacrifice of our martyrs will continue to inspire us to build India of their dreams,” he said.

LG Sinha also lauded the invaluable contribution of the farming community in nation-building.

Chairman, Sikh Coordination Committee J&K, S Ajit Singh; President Gurudwara Sahib Abtal, S Amarjeet Singh; senior officials of Police and civil administration, religious heads, prominent citizens, community elders, and people from all walks of life were present on the occasion and paid their obeisance at the Gurudwara Sahib.

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‘’Do not the unbelievers see that the heaven and the earth were joined together before We clove them asunder, and of water fashioned every living thing? Will they not then believe?’’ (21:30)

What the Holy Verse states is a biological fact. In the second half of the 20th century the role of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as the basic unit of organism was recognized. Since 1950, life has become known as the ability to replicate the DNA originally present in the organism. It is known on empirical basis that DNA molecules take the hydrogen ion from water. The hydrogen ion known as ‘mobile hydrogen’ creates a continuous electrical field between ribose sugar [crucial for formation of DNA and RNA (ribonucleic acid: like DNA vital for living beings)]  and amino acids nuclides (Proteins, the building bricks of the body are made up of hundreds of smaller units called amino acids, nuclides: from nucleus).

The principle is the same for all organisms. That is to say, cells can continue their activity only by the virtue of hydrogen. Researches in cellular chemistry have shown that all electrical processes are sustained through lysosomes [membrane-bound organelle (one of several structures in the cell with specialized function) found in nearly all animal cells] and water ions in the cell. Again, all chemical processes are carried through the medium of water ions in the cellular laboratories; we call mitochondria [an organelle in the cell].

It is also known on empirical basis that water molecule remains in the body for 7-14 days and is then ejected, being replaced by fresh water ions which contribute renewed vitality. It is precisely for this reason that organisms cannot tolerate dehydration. A cell is healthy if the water ions within it and surrounding it are balanced. In general energy is needed for continuation of vitality; this energy is obtained by the exchange of ions.

Water therefore is the basic element of vitality—the elixir of life.  

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‘’And a sign for them is the way in which we gave life to the earth that is dead: we quickened it and brought forth from it grain, of which they eat’’ (36:33)

In order to comprehend the Holy Verse in all its subtleties, one has to know first the concepts of life and vitality in their true scientific sense. The concept of vitality—the living has changed greatly and come closer to inner truth stated in Holy Quran 1400 years back. Biological knowledge coming to fore in recent time confirms this. Life is a mathematical programme coded on a giant chemical molecule. It stands testified in another Holy Verse:

‘’We created him from a drop of liquid; we shaped and programmed him’’ (80:19)

Vis-à-vis soil, God created bacteria fixing nitrogen in the soil. In chemical terms, these are laboratories of synthesis; that is, they take nitrogen from the air and prepare compounds with negative valences.  These bacteria reduce nitrogen by a method we still cannot fathom, and convert it into a form in which it can combine with hydrogen. They require water and rain for this purpose. This is why we observe that life springs forth from the soil when it rains. A second type of bacteria in the soil break down everything falling to the ground, preparing the way for synthesizing bacteria, the soil thus resembles a vast chemical factory. Soil is a living being, ever since origin of life on earth. A great miracle of the Holy Verse is that it informs us of this fact 14 centuries before biological facts of modern science came to fore.

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‘’O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint—-(2:183)

Fasting being prescribed for pre-Islamic Ummahs’ does not translate to mean that it was contextually the same or had the same form as was prescribed for Muslims, however it could be said that the principle of self-restraint held true in case of pre-Islamic Ummahs’. The variation was marked in number of days prescribed for fasting, as also in its timing, manner as well. A different regimen was prescribed with a different set of do’s and don’ts.

On who has to take the spiritual exercise and who may not is based on a set of condition, wherein an exemption is granted:

‘’(Fasting) for a fixed number of days, but if anyone of you is ill or on a journey, the prescribed number (should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (with hardship), is a ransom, the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more, of his own free will,—it is better for him. And it is better for you that ye fast, if only you know’’ (2:184)

Those who can do it with hardship include aged people or specially circumstanced. Some jurists believe that specially circumstanced include women who are expecting or the ones nursing a baby, however some opine that they need to make it up later.

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‘Moreover, He Comprehended in his design the sky, and it has been (as) smoke. He said to it and to the earth: ‘’Come ye together willingly or unwillingly. They said, ‘’We do come (together) in willing obedience’’ (41:11)

‘He Comprehended’ the Quranic idiom ‘Istawa’ in its elaboration is taken to mean that ‘‘His design Comprehended the heavens (Samaaa)’ to emphasise the fact heavens were not eternal or co-eternal with Him (Allah) but were a part of His design, a compliment to the creation of earth, where his supreme creations—human beings dwelt.

As per Quranic revelations, while earth was being shaped, sky existed as smoke or vapour or stream—the primeval matter without a definite order shape or symmetry, the state defined as Chaos, as opposed to Cosmos in Greek cosmogony. The primeval matter condensed into gases, liquids or solids.

We may keep in mind that while earth was framed in four days, it took two days to shape the sky, in divine timing however the day could be as much as fifty thousand years, as stands noted in the Holy Verse:

‘’The angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a day, the measure whereof is (as) fifty thousand years (70:4)

The conjecture in coming together of the earth and the sky willingly or unwillingly could be because of some physical forces pulling them apart, hence unwilling to join, however these forces could by dominated by forces making them willing partners to shape the solar system, as per the divine command. It is for physicists to explain the great mysteries of nature, forming what in Quranic idiom is called ‘Afaq’ the realm of science in conjunction with ‘Anfas’ the philosophy of working of nature.

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