Kamal Ghorui
BUDGAM: Donations piled high. Emotions ran higher. At an Imambara in Budgam — a town about 15km southwest of Srinagar — cash, gold and heirlooms spilled across a table Monday, as residents turned up in a steady stream to give for Iran.Money in thick stacks lay beside gold earrings, bangles, rings and a gold biscuit. Copper samovars and shawls — items usually stashed away for weddings — added weight to the collection.A youth parted with his motorbike. Another donor handed over a truck. In several Shia-majority pockets across Kashmir valley, children broke open piggy banks on the spot — scenes that moved onlookers. At one donation centre, a girl unable to walk gave her gold earrings.Grief, faith and geopolitics dovetailed in Budgam, central to Kashmir’s Shia population, where support for Iran found resonance after the killing of the Ayatollah in a US-Israel strike —turning donation centres into sites of inspired resolve.Volunteers struggled to keep pace as contributions kept coming through the day. Some donors came quietly, placed what they had, and left. First-year college student Arifa handed over her savings. “I had some cash. I donated it. My friend had gold and she gave it,” she said, rousted by the collective support for Iran. Nearby, a woman arrived with her three-year-old son, donated a gold ring, and slipped away without a word.Volunteer Illyas Hussain said proceeds would be routed to the Iranian embassy in New Delhi after converting jewellery and metal items into cash. Direct bank transfers were also underway, he said, while those unable to do so brought valuables to collection points. “This centre is centrally located. People come and drop their donations,” he said.Iran’s embassy acknowledged the response on X, calling it a gesture blessed with goodwill.National Conference functionary Tanvir Sadiq described the donations as a cross-section of society rising in solidarity. “The response reflected a collective conscience that cut across villages and towns,” he said.Peoples Conference functionary and Shia cleric Imran Reza Ansari said the drive across Kashmir followed an appeal from Iran’s embassy and drew strength from religious duty, stressing the nation’s hardships under sanctions and war. “Humanity must come before everything,” said Budgam legislator Muntazir Mehdi of PDP, who pledged a month’s salary.Yet, a note of caution crept in. Some organisers reported calls from authorities seeking details on funds and contributors, raising questions over oversight as collections swelled. But the flow showed no sign of a fall-off.
