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TRAVEL

can reach. The charred cars littered on lakh Syrian pounds in a day.
the streets. Every second count here as Sayyida Zainab Mosque is the only
making alive out of here is no less than place where people gather in large
bravery. numbers despite security threats. The
During the first night, the sound courtyard of the shrine is surrounded
of gunshots and explosions kept me by white marbles where thousands of
awake. I learned that the security forces pilgrims used to fill before the civil war.
are conducting anti-terror drills during “The shrines in Syria remain closed
the night to combat any untoward inci- during the night as a precautionary
dent in the city. measure to protect the cultural herit-
In the morning, Nadia aged 19 and age,” said a security official, guarding
her mother Sara served me breakfast. the shrine.
Both mother and daughter are working Several times the shrine of Zainab
in the hotel since the war has begun in has been targeted, hundreds of pilgrims
the country. The war has left its mark were killed by the blasts claimed by
on them when an explosion took away ISIS. Some parts of the city are literally
the head of their family. They have no unrecognisable. Many Mosques
option left but to fend for themselves. destroyed.
As I travelled to Aleppo known as
Syria’s second city, a police officer ac-
The entire district companied me the whole day for my
of Aleppo that once own security. The ancient city has been
identified by UNESCO to be one of the
hummed with 1,000 endangered World Heritage Sites.
The mixture of old structures includ-
small factories was ing the Umayyad Mosque, one of the
now abandoned, rich heritage in Syria. The Great Mosque
most of its buildings of Aleppo is surrounded by huge walls
and large pillars inside.
shattered and At distance of around 200 meters,
burnt. The reporter there is a shrine of Sayyida Ruqayyah,
the young daughter of Hussain, son of
tried to talk to Ali. For many Aleppans who are caught
locals here, but they up in a conflict they had tried to avoid,
refused to enter into the only rule was survival. Now Alep-
po’s great economic engine lies in ruins.
a conversation The sounds of the city dissipated as we
drove west, and when the car stopped,
there was an eerie silence.
There was a large portrait of Syrian “If we don’t work, we will surely die,” An entire district that once hummed
President Bashar al-Assad at the re- said Nadia with teary eyes. “This is our with 1,000 small factories was now
ception. As I was keenly looking at it, I only source of income.” abandoned, most of its buildings shat-
heard a voice saying: “He is our hero, The economic crisis in the country tered and burned. I tried to talk to locals
who has protected our country.” He was has cast its grim shadow over the peo- here, but they refused to enter into a
the hotel manager. We shook hands ple as locals are struggling to survive, conversation. “Go away,” one said.
and I took the conversation forward. He who are mostly jobless. Shop owners According to the United Nations,
was a patriot and condemned the crit- are grappling with growing inflation around 4 to 6lakh Syrians have been
ics of Assad. “We want our country to and weaker Syrian pound. killed and more than 20 million popu-
reunite,” he said. “This war was imposed “I just make ten thousand Syrian lation has been displaced. More than 5
upon us to destabilise the country and Pounds a day which is not enough to million Syrians have fled to other coun-
ouster Assad.” feed my family,” said Hussein, who is tries like Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq
I was given a room on the second selling stones, scarfs and body oils out- and Egypt and others.
floor. A single window was an eyewit- side the shrine of Sayyida Zainab. Hus-
ness to destruction as far as my eyes sein used to earn at least 1 lakh to 1.5 LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

TEHELKA / 15 FEBRUARY 2019 57 WWW.TEHELKA.COM

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