The legendary mountaineer, who has been missing since February 5th during a K2 summit, wanted to build a school in his village
Singer, philanthropist and politician Abrar Ul Haq announced that he will build a school in Ali Sadpara’s village to honor the missing mountain climber. The singer said in a tweet that he learnt about the mountaineering legend’s wish to build a school in his native village, which he will honor.
It is an excellent step by Abrar ul Haq as people from the remote areas in the region need all the support that they can get. Sadpara, who has been missing since February 5th with his two team mates, belongs to a small village in the Skardu city.
Unheralded hero
Mountain climbing is an expensive and dangerous sport that is not well known in Pakistan. Despite of the fact that some of the world’s tallest peaks are located in Pakistan and each year scores of people try to scale them, not many locals indulge in the sport. Ali Sadpara is one of the people from the remote areas of Pakistan who decided to take the dangerous sport that offers little reward and recognition in Pakistan. He started as a high altitude porter and later took up the sport himself.
His aim was to hoist the flag of the nation at the tallest peaks of the world. He achieved just that, climbing eight peaks above 8,000 meters. Sadpara climbed four of them in a single calendar year, which is no mean feat. He was also the first climber to scale Nanga Parbat, the killer mountain, during winters to boost the dwindling mountaineering scene in the region a few years back. He climbed the extremely dangerous mountain four times. He also climbed K2 in 2018.
Sadpara, like many others in his field, never got the rewards or recognition for his efforts. He led a simple life and aimed to help people in his region to prosper. A climber of his stature should have been compensated in financial terms, as well as with awards, like in the rest of the world. However, we as a nation often turn a blind eye to our real heroes. One can only hope that Sadpara will be rescued with his team. If not, his legacy will be honored and those following his footsteps will find it easier than the legend himself to walk in his tracks.