Multi Facetted Crime Legend
Aarif Shafi Khanyari
Black skinned, short beard, pale teeth and pale eyes with red dots, Kaliya (name changed) 35, is a resident of Srinagar’s down town area. He wears a sleeve less multi pocket jacket. He has 2 children, a daughter and a son-a student of a well reputed school of the valley.
Wishing his Son should not follow the footsteps of his father Kaliya prays that his Son “Should become a respected person of the society”. The ‘Multi Facetted Crime Legend’ Kaliya calls himself a “DON” is a bestseller of Hasheesh, Brown sugar and Liquor. Roaring loud he laughs, “Hahahahaha, asi chhe wanan lukh DON” People call me a DON.
Kaliya was 7 years old when he started cigarette smoking, after few years he started drinking liquor. Giving account of his numerous crimes Kaliya reveals, “I started smoking at the age of 7. When I opened my eyes, I saw the same environment in my home my father and grandfather were chain smokers and they used to smoke HASHEESH in family without any hesitation and for me it was never a crime to consume HASHEESH”. He says “I along with my friend MANNA (name changed) started puffing cigarettes and then we learned to drink liquor or wine at the meager age of 10”.
Kaliya’s story of drinking wine or liquor is fascinating, he was never sent to school, they (he and his friend) started collecting the Wine bottles from road sides to collect the few drops left in them. “We used to collect the bottles from road sides and in the evening we used to collect the drops in one bottle, a quarter of a bottle we could get after a daylong hard work and then we drunk it”. According to Kaliya they did the same for about three years, then, “It was the inception of Militancy in the Valley”.
“Mujaahideen (militants) of the different organizations started casting doubt on me and they used to pick and interrogate me suspecting me as an informer of Army and Police” recalls Kaliya saying it was a tough he had faced ever in his life. “Magar baakhoda bi osus na ba zaanh ti Mukhbirii karaan” (but I swear by Allah, I was never an Informer).
The growing suspicion about Kaliya’s work forced the militant groups to keep an eye on him which in turn resulted that Kaliya had to ultimately leave his homeland. The chain smoker and a boozer Kaliya decided to go to Delhi the capital city of India where thousands of Kashmiris earn their bread and butter.
Kaliya Started working as a waiter in a tea stall of Mohammad Saleem Ansari a Delhite. After working in Delhi for few months he met a Kashmiri man of his locality who was a pocket picker in Delhi. “When he (MUKKA, was his code name) saw me in the tea stall he offered me to work with him”. Kaliya accepted this new JOB offer and from the very same day he joined Mukka.
“I was 17 at that time when I took the first class of pocket picking in Delhi”. Revealing his story Kaliya says with a smile on his face “Mukka picked some 4 to 5 pockets in the bus and asked me to learn the ART how he is picking the pockets”.
During my first attempt I saw a complete new world, “We earned about 14 thousand bucks in few moments”. Working with Mukka, Kaliya learnt this art in a few days as he had a sharp mind. “pata banyous ba tami sindi khouta boud wousta” then I became a big master then Mukka in this art.
Now, Kaliya got well versed with the new and innovative techniques of pocket picking and one day he decided to come back to his native place. He turned back to the valley. Continuing his work as a pocket picker in Kashmir, Kaliya earned a lot of money but all was in vain. Lamenting that there is no BARAKAH in the stolen money, he says, “I earned a lot of money, I can’t even count, but I feel that as if I had earned nothing, there isn’t Barakah in that money”. Kaliya says while his wife Zareena (name changed) was keenly listening to the tale narrated by her husband.
Zareena suddenly jumped into the conversation when Kaliya was revealing of no Barakah in the stolen money. “Who suggested you to change your business?” She posed a question to her husband. “Yeah, it was me who suggested my husband to switch to drug peddling rather stealing money and picking pockets”. Endorsing her husband’s statement of no Barakah in stolen money she said with tears trickling down by her eyes, “mea payi panin paanch shuri din chhepi ath choori pata”. I had to sacrifice my 5 children after this JOB.
Only after sacrificing his 5 Children Kaliya realized that the people who were robbed by him used to curse him and his family and this purely was the result of all his bad deeds.
At the age of 28 he became a drug peddler, he started selling Hasheesh to the young people coming to his locality and in a short period of time as Kaliya was a famous name in Pocket picking he became a popular face in selling Hasheesh. His wife is thanking GOD that her husband is not a pocket picker, and she is survived by two children now.
Her son goes to school and is studying in 1st grade; her daughter is yet to land in any school. “I used to earn 20 thousand bucks a week as profit from that business and I was happy” Kaliya says about his new Hasheesh business.
When asked, “Is there no fear of police or other agencies?” Kaliya revealed that “I give them their share so I don’t face any problem”.
He also believes in Sufis or Saints and believes that it is because of their benediction that “Kaliya is saved all the time”.
As per Kaliya it is for that benediction that he annually spends near about 1.5 lac rupees at Baba Reshi Shrine as NIYAZ (Communion) and invites these saints”.
Kaliya is a man of principles; he distributes free Hasheesh to the saints and Sufis. Giving a rough account of free distribution of Hasheesh amongst the Sufis, “So far I have distributed Hasheesh worth Rs 1 crore among the (Faqeers)”
In his entire life, Kaliya has been arrested by police nearly about 16 times. All of the cases are registered against him in a nearby police station of Downtown. 6 cases registered against Kaliya are still on trail in Sringar’s Lower court.
Now-a-days he is not the supplier of Hasheesh only, recently Kaliya started selling Brown Sugar also to the younger generation of the valley. When he was talking to this reporter during the day time there was a small group of youth standing outside his window where he sits and sells Brown Sugar. Kaliya pointed his finger towards them and said, “They are all Pocket pickers and Drug addicts”.
When asked how many youth come to his residence to get the brown sugar daily he said, “During evening time till 10 pm I receive more than 500 customers, some of them do not have money for some days and they do not go unless they don’t get even a gram of Brown Sugar”.
Narrating the mind-boggling story of the drug addicts, Kaliya he has kept a Hockey stick in his room, to beat some of the drug addicts so that they can leave his place. “They get injuries, they bleed but they want a smoke of Brown Sugar”
This whole fiasco is open in his home, where his Son, Daughter and his wife live with him. Kaliya is not happy with his life.
For earning a handsome income Kaliya switched from selling Hasheesh to Brown Sugar.
In a startling revelation Kailya disclosed that he has to pay 80 thousand bucks to police alone “It is their share in my business and I have to give it”.
When his Son Maajid (name changed) ponders about his father’s such ghastly Business, he even being a child wants to stop his father. He feels that all that his father is doing is not good. Kaliya also wants to leave this business now, but he is in search of a good option, “May be I will go for the real estate business which is socially acceptable”.
Why you want to leave this business? Kaliya answers, “My heart starts bleeding, when my Son says to me ‘papa agar tche ee karakh ba ti banay aki douh yuthuy’ (My papa I will become your Xerox copy one day if you wouldn’t leave this).
Kaliya accepts that he has lived a criminal life and has reached a place where he calls himself a DON, a crime legend. Simultaneously he blames the society and social fabric as well, “Had I not been grown up in such society my status would have been different”.
He also accepts that the imbalance in Society in different terms was a reason for him to become a criminal and ending the story as a Drug peddler, he poses a question to Society, “If our’s is a Muslim dominated society why is there still difference on the name of cast, creed and color? Why don’t the relics and other responsible persons come forth and see the root problem? If there are equal rights for all in ISLAM why am I being kept away from them?” Some questions that he posed…….
“Only people’s initiative can change the state of affairs of drug peddling in the valley, people also can do a lot for society rather than police” a remorse Kaliya says while referring to the recent initiative taken by the people of downtown against the drug peddling in the area.
