It is a fact that not all but the majority do not want to die
and those who want to die also want to be remembered after death. Blessed are
those who are remembered after death for some of their virtues. The donkey is
also a strange animal made by nature or think of it as an unfortunate animal.
This animal is unlucky because the days of its life never go well. In the past,
it was only used for freight, but now its duty has been increased. It is now
used for freight as well as other work such as plowing, spinning and plowing. In
our society, people compare a hardworking man to a donkey. The donkey is
actually a creature that we call donkey in both love and anger. The four-legged
donkey buried in Hazara was really lucky to become so famous that otherwise
there are many two-legged donkeys in our society who work day and night but
cannot use their abilities properly and always called donkey.
If you come to Hazara by road from Punjab or by Karakoram Highway from Gilgit to
Punjab, you will pass through a place in the area between Havelian and Haripur
which is called “Khota Qabr”, And in fact it is the grave of a donkey. A few
years ago, the name of this village was changed to Muslimabad, but the people
living in the area still know this place by its old name, Khota Qabr. There are
many well-known stories about this donkey, one of which is that in the 19th
century, the jihadi forces of Syed Ahmed Shaheed and Shah Ismail Shaheed went to
Balakot to wage jihad against the Sikhs and set up tents near Abbottabad. Due to
the occupation of the nearby hills by the Sikhs, the Mujahideen began to face
difficulties. In this case, they used a donkey, so this donkey would move around
in the dark of night carrying the important equipment of the Mujahideen. The
virtue of not forgetting the path of the donkey helped the Mujahideen in this
difficult time. One day the secret was revealed to the enemies and they killed
the donkey. According to local tradition, the donkey that was recognized as a
war hero is buried here in the grave.
According to another story, a landowner named Fazal Din lived here on a local
hill. The landlord kept a donkey in addition to other livestock, which was very
clever. The villagers worked in the landowner's fields. Since there was only one
water well in the whole area, the women would draw water from there, fill it in
leather jugs, put it on a donkey and drive it towards the fields. The donkey
easily delivered water to the people working there. The donkey would easily
deliver the water to the people working in the fields, while the farmers working
in the fields would load the grain on the donkey and drive it away, then the
donkey would deliver the grain to the landlord's house. It is said that the
donkey became acquainted with the houses and people of the whole village. The
women cooked the food at home and loaded it on the donkey and it was easily
delivered to the farmers working in the fields. Once it was mentioned that the
locals were chopping wood on the hill and the donkey was with them which went a
long way while grazing. Meanwhile, the donkey was attacked by a lion, which fell
into a ravine and died. Later, the villagers mourned the donkey for three days
and then buried it in the grave. The locals named the place "Khota Qabr" for its
valuable donkey services.
When the fame of this donkey reached DH Watson, the Deputy Commissioner of
Hazara during the British rule, he also wrote a historical comment on it. In his
book The Gazetteer of Hazara, published in 1907, he writes that “This is the
name given to a small bazaar and tonga stage on the Abbottabad-Hassan Abdal
road, 6 miles from the former place. The grave from which it takes its name is
on the right bank of the Salhad stream, a little distance to the north of the
bridge, in a small cemetery. The story runs that in the days before Sikh rule
the villagers of Dhamtaur began to encroach upon and cultivate the Salhad lands
here. It was too far for them to return at midday to their own village for their
food, so their woman kind used to load it on a donkey, who, unattended, took his
way to where his masters were at work. As he drew near he would bray, and the
men would come and eat their dinner, and then, loading the donkey with the empty
vessels, would send him back again to Dhamtaur. The victims of the
encroachments, who were not strong enough to compel the Dhamtaur men to release
their lands by force, took counsel together, and came to the conclusion that if
they killed the donkey their enemies would find it too much trouble to go home
every day for their food, and would give up cultivation the land. So one day
they laid in wait for the donkey, and killed him as he came along. Thereupon his
masters, grieved at the death of the faithful animal, and not desiring to leave
his body a prey to vultures and jackals, gave him an honourable burial, and
raised a pile of stones over his grave, that remains until this day.”
It is true that no donkey in the world can become a horse by hard work, but no
power in the world can stop a donkey from becoming a good donkey through hard
work. The donkey buried in the grave also proved by his actions that he could
not become a horse in his life, but even though he was a donkey, he made a name
in history. It is true that the elders say that we should do something in life
so that when we die, we will light the lamp of our part in this world and then
shift to another world. When people benefit from the light of our burning lamp
after we die, we will benefit even after death and we will live even after
death. There is also a lesson in this story that whether we work day and night
like donkeys or donkeys, we must do something unique in our lives that will make
us famous. Look at Mullah Naseer-ud-Din who not only gained fame with his
inverted straight moves but also made his donkey famous. Today, every story and
joke associated with Mullah Ji remains incomplete until there is a mention of a
donkey. Buried in Hazara, this donkey became known as "Donkey" simply because of
its name, otherwise the fact is that his mental standard was much higher than
that of human beings.