Aasha Khosa/New Delhi

Advocate Raja Ashraf Ali, a political activist and businessman from Kashmir, visited the Maha Kumbh mela at Prayagraj, where he took a bath at the confluence of Ganga-Yamuna and the mystical Saraswati at Sangam Triveni.

“It was a divine experience,” Ashraf Ali says about his three-day pilgrimage.

Speaking with Awaz-the Voice, Ashraf Ali said, “When the Maha Kumbh started, I happened to be in Delhi. I felt the buzz and realized it was the largest human congregation on the earth and thought, why should I miss it.”

Interestingly, the 46-year-old advocate who lives in Srinagar downtown has his roots in Gilgit, a vast land of immense beauty under the occupation of Pakistan. His great grandfather Raja Akbar Ali Khan alias Mubarak Shah was the King of Nagar when he fought a war with Col  Durin of the British Army in 1892. “He was caught, made a prisoner of war and shifted to Kashmir.”

That is how the Gilgit family reached Kashmir. “We have preserved our traditions and language,” Raja Ashraf Ali says. He proudly speaks a dialect called Burusho, which, he claims, has millions of speakers globally, including in Gilgit.

Ashraf’s faith in religious unity comes from Hazrat Imam Ali, grandson of Prophet Muhammad. As he was martyred along with men and women in the battle of Karbala and left to die of injuries and thirst, he cried, “Oh Allah! Someone, please help me.”

Ashraf Ali, a Shia (like the Majority population of Gilgit-Baltistan), says he draws his inspiration from Hazrat Ali's words. “He did not call for help from Muslims alone; it was a cry for help to all humanity.”

Besides, there is also a reference to Hazrat Ali suggesting to his rivals that if his presence was a threat to their empires, he could go to India (Hind) and not bother them.

“If Hazrat Ali can embrace India in the time of crises, why shouldn’t  I, his follower, soak myself in the traditions of this land,” says Raja Ashraf Ali.

He equates the reference to Amrit (In Hindu scriptures) to Aab-e-Hayat (Elixir of life) in Islam while narrating the story of Kumbha.

"I believe if there were different Gods, there would be different earths and suns for each religious community," he said.

In Prayagraj, he stayed in the Cantonment area in a tent for three days. “However, I would spend most of my day on the Ghats of the Ganga; I also visited the areas where Akhara has set up their tented quarters and met the sadhus there. I visited Juna Akhara and Kinner Akhara and interacted with sadhus there”

He says he enjoyed vegetarian satvik food at the pilgrimage and made sure he took a bath in the Ganga between 4-5 am every day.”

Back home, Ashraf Ali has constructed a hotel close to the holy spring of Narnag in north Kashmir. His hotel, the White House” is located at a vantage position on the Srinagar-Sonmarg highway. It’s also the midpoint to the annual pilgrimage to the high altitude Lake of Gangabal in north Kashmir.”

Interestingly, Ashraf Ali constructed a small Shiva temple in the compound of his hotel where he did pranpratishta (consacration) of a Shiva Linga that mysteriously had been a prized possession of his family for generations. “I have no idea where it came from, but I thought it would be installed at a good place where it should be.”

In coming years, Ashraf expects good business because of the opening of the Z- Morh tunnel, which made the tourist resort of Sonmarg accessible all year.

Ashraf Ali was in Congress till a few years ago. “It was during this period the turmoil started in Kashmir. I had to lie low and not openly speak of my political affiliation. Also, we had to stop speaking or meeting our relatives living in Gilgit to avoid getting into trouble.”

On the changes in Kashmir, Ashraf Ali says, “For the first time, Kashmir and the rest of India have the same calendar. Earlier, we, in Kashmir, used to have a hartal calendar issued by Geelani (Late Syed Ali, a stone-pelting calendar, a protest calendar.”

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He hopes one day, India will take back Gilgit-Baltistan and the rest of PoJK from Pakistan and reunite him with his extended family.