Late Sirajuddin Trump of United States and Pakistan: Fascinating Life Accounts, Important Experiential Knowledge and comparative Worldviews on Socio-political,Cultural and Environmental Issues

It was the night time on July 9, 2024, I heard a shocking news and sudden death of Late Sirajuddin Trump in Gilgit Medical Center (GMC) of the Aga Khan Health Services, Pakistan (AKHSP). He had a dual citizenship of Pakistan and the United States. He was so famous with his appended name given by the people in Hunza as Trump after 2016, associated with the American President Donald Trump. Late Sirajuddin had gone through series of fascinating and tantalizing ventures during his lifetime.   On the other, he also got multiple health issues such as asthma and heart problem, though a paralysis  stroke had also hit him in 2021. Nonetheless, he was doing good and proactive not only in his investments and initiated enterprises in Pakistan but also active in and contributed to some community development projects as a dedicated volunteer. 

His departure from this world stimulated me to write something about him. Certainly, the required and valid information was necessary to contribute genuinely on someone’s life after his or her death. I immediately recalled my important and formal session with him. It was one of my extensive video interview with him (published on my YouTube Channel named EaglesWorld) and the links given at the end. This was in two parts lasting for two hours that I had  conducted on August 4, 2021 in his newly constructed hotel named Hidden Lake Resort on the upper edge of Attabad Lake in hunza. 

I had three objectives in mind to carry out the detailed seating with late Sirajuddin Trump. First, preserve him in video form within his own biography described by himself in a natural order as a key informant. To illustrate, explore his struggles against the encountered challenges and problems from his childhood to educational accomplishment, his career pathways and transnational travels cum employment and settlement in Calfornia State of the United States of America. Second, know  the dynamics and pathways of societal and cultural changes in a broader and comparative context for different regions and countries he lived by using his life accounts as an effective tool. Third, to explore and understand his worldview and experiential knowledge at collective and communal level on the societies, homeland and countries  he spent his life. 

For such important reasons and objectives in mind and hand to contribute on late Sirajuddin, I began to write on the subject matter on July 10, 2024 by listening the Urdu interview carefully  and taking detailed notes in English out of them.  I was thus able to finish it in two week’s time.This small contribution is thus entirely based on his detailed discussion with me.

 This contribution thus consists of three main parts.Discussion of some important and related concepts I have made in the beginning regarding this temporal world and significance of experiential knowledge rooted in peoples life accounts . in addition, an introduction and highlights of the article follows the conceptual framework. the second part continues with a thorough discussion of the interesting and incredible life accounts of late Sirajuddin Trump  .The final part  carries on with discussion  in a comparative context on the related communities, societies, regions or countries and some of the pressing issues at regional, national and global scales. 

I am confident the related enthusiastic and honest readers, writers, researchers, scholars and students at university level will find this contribution productive in different context. I hope the copyright aspect will strictly be kep in mind and respected. from here onward, the full article begins around  the aforesaid outline.   

Though, this world is mortal for the humans as well as for all living beings ,life in material context emerges and disappears, which is  connected with the time and space. deliberating deeper on the subject matter thus brings us somewhere closer to the fascinating notion of “survival of the fittest” of Darwin the Great where each living being strives to survive in competitive spaces in this material worl. However, another heart-touching and inspiring notion of spiritualism, which is beyond the concept of time and space, takes us further deeper into the reality of life with complex experiences. This cannot therefore be understood through the mundane knowledge  acquired effectively and based logically on the five sensory organs that could be observed and experienced by others in different or similar ways. the proponants of both type of approaches in material and spiritual domains aare anyway diverse in many terms.For instance, when life as a part or particle within the material form ends, it gets connected with its origin in the whole.It then sustains itself in the spiritual world and continues ahead without any material needs or dependence and is far away from the observation of the five sensory organs, which we usually term as scientific.

When a person is born, this material world turns to him or her like a constant place for series of trials, experiences and expermentations. These could be observed from the beginning of the embryonic life to the birth of an infant in the initial stage. Passing through his or her childhood, he or she learns to cope with further challenges and issues appearing as real world tests. In the case of a human adult or aged person, life thus progresses forward, moves ahead with series of trials and errors, reaches to its peak, begins to descend from the climax of physical power and look,accumulates significant level of experiences and practical knowledge with the course of time, reaches to the brink of the worldly life and finally embraces death whenever it comes with different kind of causes for each individual. 

While living in this material world for a specific time, going through continuous challlenges and difficulties is embedded with a constant struggles and efforts  around the posed challenges and problems for all individuals. In this regard, a person seeks effective ways and means to go through the encountered challenges and issues, whether he or she takes a positive or negative, lawful or unlawful approaches and pathways. This is what it is life in this world and all of us could observe such kind of phenomena around ourselves and around others. However, one thing is crystal clear in logic that the way an infant comes naked in this world out of the womb of his or her mother, in the same way he or she barely leaves this world empty-handed.  The shroud wrapped around a corpse performs just to cover the deadbody and it hasn’t any role to do in the spiritual or natural world per se.It means, a person comes in this world nakedly and departs from here nakedly. Death is thus a reality for each individual being,no matter he or she is a secular or spiritual, a wise or foolish, a pious or sinful, a king or queen, a literate, semi-literate  or non-literate, a wealthy or poor, a man or woman, a child or adult, and the like.

There is no doubt that life of an individual per se is highly invaluble, most precious and unique in both contexts, whether in secular domain or spiritual. However, let me place my important arguement here that it is also invaluable to note that the experiential knowledge  coming out of or based on an individual’s life for decades long has no less significance at all.It is therefore equally imperative to delve into the life accounts and experiences  of humans at individual and group level. Through this approach, I have formally interviewed and recorded a great number of people in hundreds  and related conversation with inumerable people within my limited capacity for over 24 years since 2000 with the inception of the new century and millenium . This effective approach in qualitative research provided me wonderful insights into the individual humans themselves on the one hand; and about the related societies, cultures, regions, nature and natural environment in a holistic way, on the other.

Before moving ahead, I would like to share an important point here with all those friends, fellows and colleagues (especially within the ambit of social sciences, humanity and related disciplines who have been contributing  or want to contribute in qualitative tradition of  research, semi-research, non-research or applied development ventures) that in addition to the objectives of our studies, we need to be concious enough also about the life accounts, or at least some important aspects of the biographies of our informants and respondents as well as others in the targeted population of cultural communities and societies. This will not only add to our knowledge  about the respective  individuals life accounts but also will contribute to understand the cultural communities and societies, their cultural evolution and societal  change and many other aspects. Detailed biographic interviews  thus enable us to have a relatively true picture of the subject matter.  More importantly, it is also imperative that we need to be sensitive enough that when we talk and advocate about cultural and heritage preservation and promotion across the globe within material and tangible or intangible domains, it is more important to digitally preserve the human individuals themselves and their life stories from the sample population in different regions.in the age of digitalization, live human preservation   per se in terms of their video form along with their decades long personal accounts on their life is therefore highly important and should be on top priority.   Otherwise, we could be termed or deemed as selfish, insensitive  or careless that we keep in mind some aspects of cultures, rituals or societies around our goal and are stuck within the specified boundaries for our academic pursuence only. It was thus in connection with my set tradition,  I conducted a couple of in-depth interview  with late Sirajuddin Trump of Gulmit, the headquarters of Gojal Subdivision of Hunza district in Gilgit-Baltistan Region. 

Beginning from his date and year of birt and childhood memories , elementry schooling in his hometown at Gulmit and then at Karimabad (Central Hunza), late Sirajuddin Trump so interestingly describes that how he was taken to Chirat of Kohat (KP Province of Pakistan) for the purpose of getting education in an army school.  Spending couples of years there, he then comes back to Gilgit with his protege (a military officer from Hunza) after his retirement from the army as a Brigadier in the 1970s. Though, he gets admission in the Government High School in Gilgit, he cannot adjust himself and along with one of his companions from Gulmit, late Sirajuddin flees the area, reaches Rawalpindi and goes to Peshawar as he is so fluent in Pushto, he shares so frankly. How does he work in a medical store, continues his education, passes his matriculation and Intermediate level examination, learns technical knowledge, takes initiative in an enterprise  and gets a golden opportunity to move to Kuwait and works in an Arabian Company, Late Sirajuddin Trump so openly discusses these aspects. During his life for 18 years in Kuwait (1984-1998), what kind of tides in his life came such as two times marriage,  his interaction with his community members and applying for the tourist visa of the United States of America,  obtaining multiple visa for five years, birth of his last child in California State, immigration of his all family and settlment in the United States, getting work permit and green car and many more interesting things late Sirajuddin  shares out of his fascinating life stories. He also clearly talks about other aspects of variety of ups and downs in his life during and after immeigation in the United States such as his employment to business activities,  her late mother’s illness and departure from this world in Gulmit and the like. 

Proceeding ahead, late Sirajuddin Trump amazingly and critically looks at and analyzes the issues pertaining to socio-political domain, rule of law, respect and/or violation of fundamental human rights among the people in the countries he lived, visited  and worked. These countries include Pakistan, Kuwait, Switzerland, United States and China. He further talks about and looks back on the income generation approaches carried out by his family and his own enterprize initiatives, savings and accumulation of wealth in different forms leading to investment on real estate business in Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan and construction of hotels in Hunza after experiencing the economic recession in the United States. Why and who might have given the name of Trump to late Sirajudddin?Interestingly, he also talks about it and also honestly describes about his somewhat short temper and some other  behavioral characteristics  he has innately acquired or inherited.he thus describes in a bit detail about construction of his hotels and house in Shishkat and Gulmit and the underlying seismic and socio-cultural considerations thereby.  

Though, for a half part of his somewhat detailed discussion late Sirajuddin Trump gets focused on his personal biography, encountering challenges and effective ways of getting through them, for the second half part, he addresses some of the presssing issues of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan in socio-cultural, historical, political, economic and environmental domains that how changes and development take place  in both positive and negative context.Based on his personal and communal experiences, he logically compares the societal realities  and generously keeps them before the youth and coming generations to learn lessons out of them and bring changes in themselves.  He is seen seriously concerned  about the majority of the youth of the society and tries to motivate them towards honesty and hardwork on their natural resources in a responsible way,  developing necessary skills and participating fully in the diversified enterprises in a dignified manner and taking full advantage out of the international and neighboring borders and countries, especially Peoples Republic of China. 

Why and how did he contest the local election in 1991 when he was in his youth?late Sirajuddin explicitly talks about it in a friendly way and it is, of course, so interesting.  His nationalistic worldviews on politics  of Gilgit-Baltistan Region is also highly apealing which he has discussed herein in addition to comparison of grassroots politics and election  of the United States with Pakistan.  Moreover, as a polyglot (fluent in seven languages) , late Sirajuddin Trump also analyzes some cultural and language issues. He shows his genuine concern of language disappearance about Wakkhi, his mother tongue, in addition to their land   loss due to their own fault on top  and then the political representatives and the Government itself. I hope the readers would enjoy reading them carefully.  

Late Sirajuddin Trump also shows his highest level of concern about the environmental issues becoming seriously dominant in Hunza and Gilgit-Baltistan Region. He talks about and analyzes the unplanned and non-serious  drainage system of the wastes coming out of the hotels and houses leading to a huge level of water pollution, uncontrolled and massive tourism  with environmentally insensitive and unfriendly tourists enjoying the beauitufl nature and leaving behind dumps of solid wastes, multiple stories of building construction and air pollution due to the fumes of uncountable vehicles running on the Karakoram Highway and the like. Regarding the drainage system and hotel building, he gives example of his resort that how he took the model from the United States and applied it on his business in the upper part of Attabad lake area.  He thus ends his comprehensive discussion with a couple of positive and strong messages to the youth and coming generations. 

Well, before embarking on the actual themes of discussion, I would like to note a highly important point regarding dates and years of birth for individuals in the northern Pakistan and will revert on the topic. Although, there was no tradition of writing dates of birth of the children mainly due to absence of education, it especially started with the introduction of Diamond Jubilee School Project(DJSP) of His Highness Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III, in 1946 and onward in the former Hunza State and other parts of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral in the Ismaili concentrated areas.  However, couples of schools had been opened by the British Indian Government in the 1890s onward in the whole region including Gilgit, Baltistan and Chitral. Some so-called social elites of their time in different principalities would get opportunity to study in those schools at primary or middle level. No commoners could  be found or supposed to get admission and study in those newly established schools of the Government as the educational system was getting evolved.Despite the fact the schools had come on the limelight among the mountain communities, for the majority of the students, the dates and years of births were recorded on guess by keeping in view the important past events as the reference points in the history of the region. Even, if some students had their original  dates of birth, in the school records, the teachers themselves would keep aside the original dates and years of birth and reduce them by two to three, or more years so that to ensure those students could get job positions based on their school records. It thus laid an interesting foundation or tradition of lessening the dates and years of birth. This practice continued for decades untill the digital recores  of dates of birth started in the 2000s and 2010s. It is interesting again to note that even today, years of births  could be reduced for many students and their origional timeline may be different. To those children, who remained non-literate, their years of birth could also be evidenced to have been reduced from its original in the Government Registration Offices and Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs). In such ways, the dates or years of birth for the individuals in Pakistan could therefore be in two domains: the origional but not brought on official record with the registration offices; the changed or forged one but recorded in official documents of the Government Registration Authority and national identity cards thereby.  

Let’s revert to the actual themes of  discussion. according to his school record, Late Sirajuddin was born in 1955 in Gulmit. His father’s name was Sirang Khan son of Qalandar Shah and mother’s name Bibi Safida daughter of Ibadat Shah of Passu. His paternal uncles were Ghulam Hussain,Dawran Shah, Taj Muhammad and Khuda Yar (Tolun).his father Sirang Muhammad was the youngest among all.  His maternal uncles were Amir Ahmad Shah and Mirza Jan.his siblings included late Fazaluddin (died in China), late Jaliluddin (died when he was a student of matriculation in 1976)and Bibi Zeyda (alive and married with Safdar Ali Khan of Ghulkin, also known as Raja Safdar). 

Late Sirajuddin Trump got two marriages. The first one was Mrs. Jamila Begum Rahim Shah of Gulmit in 1977. It continued for over seven years and ended with divorce in 1984. There was no child out of the first wife. He thus got his second marriage in 1984 with Mrs. Zahida Khan, and Ismaili woman whose father was from Karachi and mother from Attock (Punjab). Out of his second wife, Sirajuddin has five children including two daughters and three sons named Mah Jabeen, Sarah Khan, Jaliluddin, Saif Ali Khan and Abbas Khan respectively.

His father Late Sirang Khan had served Pakistan army (Punjab Regiment) and got retirement in 1965. Sirajuddin was studying in class 4 in the Government primary school in Gulmit, when his father unfortunately died following six months of his retirement from the military.his teacher at primary level was Mr. Abdullah Jan of Baltit. After qualifying his primary level education, late Sirajuddin gets admission in class 6 in the Government Middle School, Baltit (Karimabad). Some of his classmates from Gulmit that he describes were  Rahmatullah Baig Rustam Baig, Muhammad Muzaffar Abdul Bari, late Noorullah Baig Adina Baig,  and others.

At this juncture of his schooling in Baltit, interesting development comes up within a year when a famous military commando officer of Special Services Group (SSG) from central Hunza, named Col Sherullah Baig,  takes late Sirajuddin to Chirat  (his serving station in Kohat district of today’s KP or Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa  province of Pakistan). His father Sirang Khan, as mentioned earlier,  had also served the army and he had good relationship with Col Sherullah Baig under him.  Late Sirajjudin thus gets admission in an Army School and he finishes his studies up to his middle level education from this army educational institution. It were for such reason, Sirajjudin was highly fluent in Pushto language.he remembers that at that time when he was in Class 8, General Musharaf (a military dictator of Pakistan) was captain in the army, he says.interestingly, one day, Sirajuddin puts on the uniform of a captain and was outside the house of his guardian Col Sherullah Baig. Those days, General Hassan Gul, then the Chief of Army was on his visit to  that area and saw that a boy was dressed up in the uniform of a captain. In a humeerous way, he has asked Col Sherullah Baig that when had he recruited such a little captain? From that day onward, Sirajuddin becomes famous within that circle of the army as a little captain. 

When late Sherullah Baig gets retirement as a Brigadier, Sirajuddin returns with him to Gilgit-Baltistan. He gets admission in Glass 9 in the Government High School of Gilgit but could not adjust himself in the educational environment while coming from an army school of Chirat, which was far ahead of this school in many terms. He therefore discusses with one of his friends Maqbul Shah Sambul Khan of Gulmit perhaps in 1978 and both of them plan to escape Hunza and Gilgit-Baltistan and go to the down country. Both of them materialize their plan and one day they clandestinely flee from Gulmit by sitting in a truck.   It should be noted that during those days, there were very little traffic on the newly constructed and opened vehicular road, the Karakoram Highway (KKH). After a drive of a long travel, when they reach Besham in KP, the father and uncle of Maqbul Shah (late Sambul Khan and late Sahib Nazar) catches them up as they had rented a private jeep and therefore could drive fast. They thus scolded both of them and asked them to go back with them in the car to Hunza. Maqbul Shah fearing his father and uncle sits in the car but Sirajuddin refuses to go with them. He thus continues his way ahead towards Rawalpindi and goes back to Peshawar as he was fluent in Pushto language, an effective tool of communication with the people of the province.

Late Sirajuddin thus begins working in a medical store in Peshawar. Alongside his job commitment to survive, He also continues his studies in Peshawar, describes Sirajuddin. He studies his matriculation from Government High School No. 2. It was that time when late Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao was assassinated there. It is however interesting to note that he appears and passes his matriculation as a private or external candidate. Afterwards, Sirajuddin gets admission in   the Government College, Charsada Road of the provincial city. He again appears in his college education examination at intermediate level as a private student (candidate). 

In the meanwhile, Sirajuddin also learns the technical knowledge from different skill people. He learns fitting the pipes for the Sui Gas as the gas was being introduced in the area. He thus becomes and works as a pipe fitter. In the aftermath, 1978 or 1979, he also begins his business as a contractor. For instance, he gets a contract of constructing the Kamra Base/ground; construction of the buildings in Karachi Company, Islamabad; and the like.

In 1981, there comes an advertisement of the Foji Foundation regarding an opportunity to go to Kuwait for the laboring purpose.  The recruitment is made by a Kuwaiti engineer. Late Sirajuddin is not allowed to go inside the building where the interviews were taken from the applicants or prospective candidates.Unfortunately, Sirajuddin is not allowed to go inside the office. When the interviews ended, the engineer responsible for the selection comes out and sees late Sirajuddin waiting outside.he asks him that why didn’t he appear in the interview. Sirajuddin responds: “I was not permitted to enter in the office as I have no source and no one knows me.” Listening him, the engineering tells Sirajuddin that on a condition he could include his name in the waiting lis as a helper to the engineer team working in Kuwait. If Late Sirajuddin proved himself there, he may then be promoted. Late Sirajuddin thus agrees with him and his name is being enlisted for Kuwait. 

Well, it took a year for the whole process to be completed. By the end of 1982, the visas of the 120 recruited  labors including late Sirajuddin are given to them. At this time, for the last two months he was working in Port Qasim in Karachi. He leaves his job and on January 4, 1983, he flies for Kuwait as the contract was for two years. Interestingly, in six months period, late Sirajuddin proves himself as a helper in mechanical realm and he is promoted as a Supervisor. He stands to be first Pakistani in the company to move up on a relatively higher position. In the beginning he gets 90 Kuwaiti Dinar per month but when got promotion, he is paid 500 Dinar. One Kuwaiti Dinar, he says, in the beginning of his job was Pakistani rupees 200; and when he was leaving Kuwait, one Dinar was equal to 380 Pakistani rupees. Consequently, late Sirajuddin does accumulate series of experiences    around his job description and other domains. 

When the contract gets finished, Sirajuddin seeks opportunity with other companies and luckily, he gets employment with a company named Arab Co.  In such ways, he spends working in Kuwait for eighteen years from 1984 to 1998. During this timeframe, the company also provides an opportunity to him to send him to get training in Switzerland in technical domain.   He thus remains there for one and a half month behind his training in Zurich and acquires the latest or new technical knowledge.  

It is during this time in Kuwait, as described above, late Sirajuddin gets his second marriage in 1984 with Zahida Khan that continues to date. Three of their children (older daughter Mah Jabeen, and two sons Saif Ali Khan and Abbas Khan) were thus born in Kuwait; while their younger daughter Sarah Khan was born in the United States and older son Jaliluddin in Karachi. 

While in Kuwait, late Sirajuddin interacts with some Ismaili community members and learns how could one go to the United States and get the citizenship there. For this purpose, he then applies for the visit visa for himself and his family.  Fortunately, he gets a multiple visa for five years.Strategically, late Sirajuddin now sends his pregnant wife and older daughter first. They go to California State. Zahida Khan thus gives birth of a daughter named Sarah Khan, her last child.   Sarah’s birth in turn becomes a blessing for her entire family as she is born as a citizen of the United States. Late Sirajuddin flies for the United States with his three sons after six months in 1998.

Based on his experiences, Late Sirajuddin Trump also shares some of the procedures for getting U.S. visa successfully.  He mentions that people normally do not qualify their visa due to showing appropriately their bank statements. Sirajuddin says that no matter how much a person has money in his bank account but it is important that how much transaction is made time to time in continuity. In contrast, an interested applicant shows the transaction of six months with his visa application where he had deposited and drawn money from his account. Never Sirajudin as an applicant showed he had thousands of money or hundreds of thousands of money in his account. Instead, frequent transaction and activation of the account in a vibrant way was important, he adds.

Well, in the United States,   in the initial phase of his arrival on his multiple visa of five years, Sirajuddin Trump works in a restaurant. Afterwards, he brings his acquired skills and experiences in use including plumbing, electrification, and other related skills in construction work. In addition, he initiates his real estate business by purchasing the old houses, improving their conditions and then reselling them. It stands wonderful, indeed. 

The initiated and set activities of late Sirajuddin would thus go through various tides of the time in the United States.Unfortunately, his old mother in Gulmit (Hunza) was not feeling good and has become sick. Late Sirajuddin therefore leaves for Pakistan in mid-2000. Her late mother had brain tumour and therefore her health condition was not satisfactory. The doctors were not certain about her survival. He therefore spends sometimes with her mother in his hometown at Gulmit (Gilgit-Baltistan). His nuclear family members are in Los Angeles (California). Things move in a hectic manner. His younger brother Fazaluddin is in China. Although, he had got married in Gulmit with Ms Naik Parveen Jalaluddin and got a daughter, he had chosen to live in China as had also got second marriage there in Xinjiang having a daughter there, too.In addition to providing due care to her vulnerable mother, the burden at home in Gulmit in terms of agro-pastoral activities and chores were therefore on the shoulder of his sister-in-law (Mrs. Fazaluddin). His sister Bibi Zeyda would also extend her time-to-time care to her mother within her capacity, despite the fact she is married in the neighboring village in Ghulkin but settled in Gilgit with her nuclear family. 

After spending sometimes with her mother, late Sirajuddin then returns to the United States to also take care of his family there On the other hand, he had to apply for the formal work permit and U.S. Green Car . When he applies for these requirements of work permit and green card, it becomes hard for him to leave out the United States as per rule. If someone chooses to go out of the United States during the specified time, he or she would get deprived of the citizenship case and could not enter back in the country, he explains. The ailing mother of late Sirajuddin thus finally passes away in 2002 or 2003. Unfortunately, he could not go to Pakistan in order to participate in her death ritual due to his submitted application for legal requirements. He thus gets the work Permit (WP) in 2002 and the green Card (GC) in 2012.

Talking about acquisition of his driving skill, it was interesting to hear that late Sirajuddin had learned it in his dream one night when he was in Pakistan during his young age. To illustrate, when he purchases a car, while in Harripur (KP), he comes across driving car in dream. He thus realizes his dream and begins driving his car on his own. Driving for a considerable distance, the gear stocks and he could not do anything furthermore. He now seeks help from a young man who was their technical helper at the workplace. He then manages and resolves the problem.  Before getting his U.S. green car,  he drives his car and goes up to the Canadian border but he could not enter Canada due to absence of the citizenship Card of the United States. He therefore drives back for four hours and in the meanwhile, his lawyer calls him with the good news that he had his Green Card. Sirajuddin becomes happy on the one hand; and on the other wishes, if this development would have come up earlier, he could then enter and drive in Canada. Having the driving licenses of the United States, Kuwait and Pakistan  provide him a confidence to drive in different states of the country. Out of the fifty states of the United States, late Sirajuddin thus avails the opportunity to drive himself in 21 states (14 of them he makes in one and a half month as a domestic tourist). 

Comparing societies of the countries he has visited or lived including Pakistan, Kuwait, Switzerland , United States and China, late Sirajuddin shares a bit of his firsthand account, smart perceptions and experiences. He describes that in Pakistan, people always look for the shortcuts in one way or the other.Few of those could get success in their shortcut approaches. In Kuwait, there are nice opportunities in earning. However, there also prevails a strong ethnocentrism, rather a kind of racism. The Arabs consider the Pakistanis or other nations inferior to them. 

In contrast, In the United States, all people are equal.     A person has the opportunity to work hard with honesty and dedication. The more a person works hard here, the more he or she earns. On the other, there is also a liberty for people to go to the bars and clubs along with their friends and others. It is also noteworthy that all people in the United States are equal before the law. No matter one is big or small, wealthy or poor, or otherwise, all of them have to obey and remain under the law not above the law as we experience in Pakistan or other countries of such nature. Moreover, each individual has his or her social security number in the United States and everything gets recorded in it whether it is in terms of taking loan, employment or business information, or otherwise. Those who honestly work hard in this great country, he or she could earn enormously.  Conversely, Kuwait and Pakistan have many similarities. Those who have commendations or references, bribery or other unlawful approaches could get job or business and the like. Influential people consider themselves and remain above the law and those who are poor or weak have to go through the contextual consequences of law. There is thus an inequity and inequality among the peoples when we go through the laws and regulations in Pakistan.   This is the main factor the country like Pakistan is behind and huge majority of people are poor and vulnerable.  

About Switzerland, late Sirajuddin describes that it is a marvelous and great country. People are so friendly and humane. The rule of law and ethics of humanity are highly honored and they practically reflect on the ground and among the people. For instance, if a person is stuck somewhere and seeks help and direction, they sincerely  extend their generosity of suggestions, advice or directives. If a pedestrian crosses a road, the vehicles are stopped at a distance unless pedestrians are safely on to the other side.  

Sharing his eyewitness accounts on China, he experiences his wonder when he compares his first and last visit to Xinjiang Region in 1991 and 2017 respectively. He describes that during his first visit of Xinjiang, there was nothing there in development terms. The region was so backward. No physical infrastructure development. People would travel in Kashghar on the donkey carts.  No or very few and tormented taxis were there. The buildings seemed weird and in strange condition.  When he visits the same Xinjiang Region after 25 years, there were outstanding and wonderful development in material context but huge observations regarding human behavior and dealing.in 2017, he visits China not on the American passport  but rather on the travel pass of the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan Region. When he reaches on the Khunzhrav Pass, the Chinese security guards stop the vehicles and check each of them individually. It takes a lot of time. Late Sirajuddin then becomes emotional and burst on them by holding them responsible for any mishap with him as a heart patient. 

It should be noted that Khunzhrav (wrongly written and promoted as Khunjerab) has a terrain that is among the few highest vehicular road Passes. It has an altitude of more than 4,000 meter (16,more than 000 ft.) high on the surface of the Earth. Those who are normal health-wise go through turbulence and breathing issues while ascending onto the pass. Those who have heart or asthma issues encounter real health problem on its height. The security guards now take late Sirajuddin inside their quarter with a respect and care. They give him a mask to put on but he keeps it away.  Well, he continues travels through the Tashkurghan County and other places and finally reaches in Kashghar.  One day, the same security official, who was at the Khunzhrav Pass on duty, greets and meets him in the hotel where he is stayed. The Chinese security official had already inquired and known that he was basically American.  He thus confirms it from him if he was an American citizen. Sirajuddin Trump responds affirmatively and endorses that he is also an American citizen in addition to Pakistani. The Chinese security official then asks him that what is the main difference between an American and a Chinese. Late Sirajuddin Trump replies that the difference is like a human and a dog. One of the friends of Sirajuddin sitting beside him disapproves this remark and in a friendly manner cuffs him not to say so. Well, the Chinese official then replies that in the Inner China, people are so great and humane. It means or we could infer that people in Xinjiang are not humane but wild. Sirajuddin then replies that he has not gone to Inner China. When he will go and observe them, then he could comment about them. 

The track record of Late Sirajuddin    shows that he was sound in the domain of technical knowledge and experiences. His wife Zahida Khan (more or less 16 years younger than him) was also doing some job in Kuwait. When she gets settled in the United States, she chooses and pursues nursing education. She then qualifies to be a nurse after five years education. In this way, she also begins productively and effectively contributing in the family income. Late Sirajuddin own up   her wife’s role not only in the family income but also acknowledges her vital role of saving his earning. He describes that the more he would earn, the more he would spend. He therefore states with a confidence and a sincere gesture of acknowledgement that it was her wife Zahida Khan who practically taught and brought him towards saving the money out of his earning. 

Talking about his family, Late Sirajuddin is highly confident that his wife and he have nurtured and developed their children very well. Although, according to the law of the land in the United States, children after 18 years are fee to decide for their fate and future. They could leave their parents and live their life independently. He describes that their children are so good who respect their parents and live with them around some important and sustaining tenets of the Pakistani rather Islamic culture. When his children do visit Hunza, they are so humble and people appreciate them. He has married his older son Jaliluddin within his family in Gulmit. his second son and daughter also wish to get married in Hunza.Likewise, he expects for his other children. 

In the field of business, late Sirajuddin ventures to enter when he grows up and crosses his 25 years of age. This he begins in Peshawar and extends in Islamabad. With the course of time, he exercises around various business ideas even when he works as an employee in Kuwait. However, when he settles in the United States, he acquires the work permit and does  experience not only around his technical knowledge but rather around the lucrative real estate’s business by purchasing old houses, bringing some improvement in them and selling them to his clients.  In such manner, he gets significant benefits.

Late Sirajuddin interestingly shares that if someone has no U.S. citizenship but has ample amount of money, he or she could purchase a house in the United States for the business purpose. The most expensive place in terms of purchasing a house is California State. For instance, if a house one buys for an amount of four hundred thousand dollars, that could be obtained in California for an amount of more than a million dollars. The expensive houses in nature are found first in California, second in New York and third in Illinois. On the other, such types of houses are cheaper in Iowa and other states including Michigan. Even in Washington DC, houses are relatively cheaper for purchase. Those interested and have ample amount of money could purchase houses in the United States, do their business/enterprises but can not do job. In addition, the children of those house owners (not having U.S. citizenship) can also get education in the country. 

Why and how did late Sirajuddin Trump plans and invests in business in Pakistan was a serious question and he so nicely responded it. Describing about the economic recession  encountered the United States in the recent history in 2012-2013, Sirajuddin says that people came across incredible losses in business at a highest level. It was for such genuine reason; he sells out the houses in business and invests the money in the real estate enterprises in Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan Region. First, he buys pieces of land there at two places but the seller withdraws his agreement. He then goes to Islamabad and invests his money on the real estate there.  It was in 2015, late Sirajuddin focuses around the Attabad lake area on the upper edge. He thus purchases the pieces of land there where his hotel named Hidden Lake Resort is constructed. 

Who might have termed late Sirajuddin as Trump was interesting before me to know it from himself and explore the rationale behind. When I inquired about it, Sirajuddin so nicely and frankly tells some of the factors behind. First, when he comes to Pakistan and invests in the real estate, purchases the pieces of land at different places from Islamabad to Hunza such as Attabad Lake area, Borit, Sost and so on, it was a kind of wonder or shock to many in the area.during those years,   Mr. Donald Trump, a business tycoon,  became President of the United States  of America in 2016 Election. Third, Donald Trump has an emotional or aggressive type of personality and some of those characteristics were found similar between both Donald Trump and Sirajuddin. For such reasons, someone has thus given him the name behind President Donald Trump. Late Sirajuddin therefore gets a high fame behind his name as Trump than his original name. Though, it is not known exactly who has given this name, late Sirajuddin describes that Ali Ahmad  (a reporter of Geo News and Pamir Times from Gulmit) has said that he had given and promoted this name to him. Whoever has given the name, the question was to also know if late Sirajuddin  was reluctant for changing his name without his consent. It was fascinating   to know that he was not feeling bad for it and said if people are happy to name him behind President Trump for some of the mutually similar characteristics, let them say so then. No problem. 

Although, late Sirajuddin Trump was known for his straightforward approach in his hometown and the area, nonetheless I thought to explore and testify it from himself to know if the characteristics   of bluntness he possesses? He so honestly accepts it and says he is direct and outspoken from his childhood. He maintains that unless he sees something from his own eyes or hears something from his own ears, he won’t trust on or care for the rumors against him whether they are shared with him by his children, wife or some else, he elaborates. He adds that critical remarks are made against the prophets, or even God, so what if something said against him. This is inspirational and a great thought of Sirajuddin, indeed. 

The hotel site selection for the Hidden Lake Resort on the upper edge of Attabad Lake is interesting, too. Late Sirajuddin gets the name inspiration from such type of resorts present in California State of the United States where he lives. He thus selects the site before construction and opening of the Chinese tunnel on the Karakoram Highway alongside the Attabad Lake. One day, he passes through the site in a public boat services because there was no road after the blockage of the KKH in January 2010. Late Sirajuddin gets attracted towards the land site and immediately talks to the related owner in Shishkat. Consequently, he purchases the land from the owner named Ikram through Akbar Shah of Gulmit. At that time, one kanal of land was for 550,000  (five hundred and fifty thousand) Pakistani rupees. In this way, he buys four kanals of land. His paternal cousins showed their reservation that he had not envisioned well and has bought the pieces of land at an inappropriate place. Instead, he should have bought the land in Gulmit. Late Sirajuddin however had the resolve to construct the hotel on the site he had liked keeping in view the futuristic importance and idealistic resort. Today, the land of the Attabad lake area is highly expensive. The cost of one kanal of land at present is over eight million Pakistani rupees, which late Sirajuddin had bought for 550 thousands PKR in the initial stage before opening of the KKH tunnel in 2015. 

The stimulus for mapping the resort with earthquake proof Late Sirajuddin has taken   from those in the United States, Canada and Japan. However, when he finishes the construction of the building, people around him would say that what kind of construction of the rooms are there? once, the wind of the lake and locality will begin, it will blow them away  because the rooms are all made up of wood. The wooden architecture of the resort thus keeps the temperature balanced during the winter and summer season as it is compatible to the local environment. It should be kept in mind that the architect of the hotel is also late Sirajuddin Trump himself. He is of the opinion that the building can sustain for over a hundred years. In contrast, the concrete building has a less age in nature. The entirely wooden    building like Hidden Lake Resort cannot get damage or there can’t be any human loss during the time of intense earthquake, though it will shake but won’t fall.in addition, during the winter, the wooden rooms of Hidden Lake Resort requires slight heating and it gets warmed. On the opposite, the concrete building is highly susceptible to earthquake and could easily fall in the face of earthquake jolts in addition to high risk of human life loss. Moreover, the concrete buildings and the rooms therein require a high level of heating during the wintertime, explains Sirajuddin Trump. 

By August 2021,    the Hidden Lake Resort  had 28 rooms altogether. On the upper part, the rooms were relatively small while in the lower part, they were comparatively bigger. There are also rooms for the couple along with their children of moderate size. It is also interesting to note that the huge amount of timbers spent on the resort Sirajuddin has purchased locally and also in an auction held in Gilgit. He estimates that in total, over 40 million Pakistani rupees he invested on the resort project beginning from the land purchase and leveling to the construction. In the aftermath, he buys further kanals  of land on the upper side of his resort in order to align the link road on his own land because he faced huge challenge of access from the Karakoram Highway to the resort and back. These couples of kanals  of land were so expensive at this stage and he buys the land for more than three and a half million PKR. Late Sirajuddin further recommends that keeping in view the geographic setting; the local community should avoid concrete buildings and houses in the area. Instead, they should go on with the wooden houses, as there are more cold months than warm ones in a year.

Different categories of clients come to the Hidden Lake Resort and stay there. They include the richest ones and those who do subsist to survive. Whoever comes to and stays in the hotel, all of them leave the hotel with a good memory and pleasure, says late Sirajuddin.Adding further, he says that his focus is more on the sitting area within the resort as the hotel is built in a spacious environment. Amazingly, two to three thousand people could sit in the Resort.The building blocks have been built in a single story. Some people while visiting late Sirajuddin would advice him to build multiple story rooms instead of wasting the land. However, Sirajuddin does not agree with their ideas in order for the clients to provide a natural environment near the lake and among the surrounded mountains. In addition, he also tried within his capacity to consider the special needs of people with disabilities such as physical with leg issues and to some extent to those who are visually disabled.  

Opposed to his own beautiful and logical recommendations to the local people about construction of wooden buildings and regarding the natural and cultural environment, Late Sirajuddin himself incredibly constructs a multiple story building as a hotel in Gulmit. When I probe into the matter, he justified that he does so due to absence of further land nearby. Second, 40% to 50%tourists coming to the area prefer the concrete and cement buildings rather than those embedded in wood materials. He however emphasizes that his ideal building is that of the wooden one constructed for the resort. The other one is for commercial purpose.By August 2021, no name was proposed for the hotel in construction. This hotel in Gulmit has four stories with a lift system, which is unprecedented in the whole region. Moreover, on top of this hotel, a marriage hall is within the plan that will be 35/100 and will accommodate between 1500 to 2000 people with chairs.    In total, he anticipates to involve six million PKR on the construction of this hotel in Gulmit. 

Furthermore, late Sirajuddin Trump is also building a giant house for his family in Gulmit spread over 10,000 square feet of land. This house includes a traditional Wakhi house, seven bedrooms, a TV lounge, a drawing room, sunroom, a study room,   and so on. These are built on two stories (ground and first floor).   All bedrooms are on the first floor while the traditional house on the ground floor. He estimates that over six million PKR may be spent on the construction of this wonderful house for his family. 

 Apart from the above investments in hotel business and his family house, late Sirajuddin Trump also utilizes his huge amount of money on real estate business. For this purpose,  he  purchases  pieces of land in Central Hunza: almost two kanals of land in Karimabad, ten and a half kanals of land in Hyderabad and four and a half kanals of land in Aliabad. Additionally, he also buys pieces of land at Borit lake area, Sost  and the like. 

Embedded in series of huge challenges, consistent struggles  and wonderful successes, the above narrations were some highlights of the personal life accounts of late Sirajuddin that he has accomplished robustly for more than six decades (by now in August 2021).he advises and recommends that there is no shortcut for sustaining successes. “We need to work hard with honesty and must not stick in egotism and feel guilty to perform any task that is normally considered inferior. There has come a stage in my life when I had nothing to eat and I was compelled and took things out of the garbage’s as well.” Though, these are apparently the shocking but very important tips late Sirajuddin gives to his readers and listeners, they are however rooted directly in pragmatism and in the real but bitter world situations. Observing the educated youth of the area, both male and female, late Sirajuddin says that they look for the high level of positions in employment. They won’t get them in today’s world where there are high competitions and other considerations in different walks of life. He further adds that one should therefore must not think a job either inferior or superior. These are the invention of human minds and it is important to be courageous and perform the jobs sincerely within the ambit of the set laws and regulations thereby.

Late Sirajuddin gives an additional but fascinating and concrete example of his own at this stage of his life.  Being a technical person, he has the expertise in painting his house. Those who saw him engaged with the work on his own, they passed their comments and remarks that Sirajuddin was a stingy person. He has enormous wealth but for this job, he has opted himself instead of hiring someone. He so nicely gives another example from the United States that those who are billionaires or highly rich even spares weekend for the their household  chores or tasks. 

From here onward, late Sirajjudin Trump nicely discusses and analyzes the challenges and problems at communal, regional and societal scales. Although, he has accumulated a great wealth for himself, his family including children and grandchildren, he plans and offers to contribute to his community and region within his capacity at this juncture of his life.  When I tried to inquire and know about his support to the community or members of the community (which I had heard he does so) in terms of donations or otherwise, late Sirajuddin showed his humility and was reluctant to reveal them. He was of the opinion and aligned with a great philosophy that if one hand helps someone, another hand should not know it.  Apart from doing his business in the region and providing employment to the local community members in different ways, Sirajuddin as a dedicated volunteer also spares time for the civil society forums of his hometown like GOLD (Gulmit Organization for Local Development). He thinks that when organizations are made around different mandates, they ought to deliver their services honestly and effectively. 

Before moving forward, let me add a couple of special notes here for the four decades from 1940s through 1970s about the key reference points  in order for societal change and evolution  in the area in these specific but critical periods of time to supplement the discussion with late Sirajuddin so that the readers should better understand and connect the dots on the overall developent in societal and regionall domains. There is no doubt that in the last phases of Hunza State during the time of Mir Ghazan Khan II reign from (1938 to 1945) and  the last ruler Mir Muhammad Jamal khan (reign from 1945 to 1974), gradual changes had begun in different walks of life in terms of peoples mobility towards cash economy and out-migration for some specific time. These included recruitment of a selected number of people  from Hunza State in the military like British-Indian forces and Gilgit-Scout; a mega level revolt of the community of upper Hunza against the injustices of Mir Ghazan Khan II under late Arbab Adab Khan of Passu in 1940; initiatives of Diamond Jubilee Project schools of His Highness Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III n 1946 and onward; introduction of small scale cooperative societies by His Highness Aga Khan III in the 1950s and onward; peoples out-migration from Hunza State to the down country Pakistan (like Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, and so on). The impermanant migration strategies mainly remained for generation of their incomes (by joining military forces and labor industries) and getting education (by taking admission in educational institutions);and linking central Hunza through jeep road in the second half of 1950s and lower Gojal in the first half of 1960s).

Moving ahead, highly important socio-political changes are observed and witnessed in a historical contex contributing to the development of Hunza State are from 1960 onward. Let me highlight them here and they include the first but landmark visit of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV to Hunza State and Gilgit-Baltistan in October 1960; first visit of General  Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan) to Hunza State in 1963; establishment of a Government Primary school and a health unit in Gulmit in the first half of 1960s; beginning of construction of the mighty Karakoram Highway in 1966-67 starting from the Sino-Hunza borderland at Khunzhrav Pass; establishing the Diamond Jubilee girls schools in the 1960s, especially in the upper  part of Hunza State; introduction of the constitution of Shia Isma’ili Council in 1969 in Hunza State;abolition of Hunza State in 1974; establishing the Aga Khan Health Centers in Hunza in the 1970s;introduction of the first democratic election in the post-Hunza State in 1976;formal opening of the Karakoram Highway in 1978; and the like. 

Let’s come back now and focus the discussion point with late Sirajuddin Trump, again. Recalling his initiations within his capacity in bringing socio-cultural changes at grassroots level beginning from his own households as a societal unit, late Sirajuddin,as an effective initiator, introduces various things among the community. For instance, his  initiatives and introduction of new things include sofa chairs in his house for the first time in Gulmit in 1974.Out  of the commoners, he champions again to introduce in his house the electric generator, television set, video casette recorder (VCR),  kerocene heater; a motorbike  (perhaps for the first time in the history of the entire region in 1976,  vehicles like a van and a car, modern washroom and toilet system, and   many more. Additionally, when public, social or communal events are organized, the sofa chairs/seats of late Sirajuddin are taken in those programs so that the chief and prominent guests should be graced to sit on them.Likewise, in the hotels   like that of Marco Polo Inn, the electric generator of late Sirajuddin is hired so to provide light at night to the important foreign guests staying in the hotel. 

Moreover, Late Sirajuddin Trump so nicely recollects and compares some aspects of his societies of the past with the present, his childhood life with the current context (in 2021) and the like. He says: though, there was a grave poverty in the entire region, the people would accept it and live with each other in interdependence, peace and happiness. There was no formal education in the society but there was informal education imparted by their families, elders and others around their set norms and values. People had a great respect for each other. Internal conflicts existed but resolved around their set laws by the formal and informal councils of elders in different families/clans in addition to the village head  (called Arbob). In addition, he also shares some of the harsh realities prevailing in the society. 

Late Sirajuddin Trump recalls the time when he was a child, there was no shoes available to the children and adults alike. During winter season, when huge snowfall would fall on the ground, people including children and himself would wrap the useless pieces of cloth around their feet and then would walk outside the houses.Family members would go to bed early and rise erly in the morning. There was no matches available. People would use the kindling  wood at night and recognize each other with the help of wood light. The light got evolved from the kindling wood to chikhmokh (a fire-producing tool), from chimney (a tin filled with fats or kerosene oil and the twisted lace-like  stuff dipped in the oil), lantern and gas, then evolving to the electric generators, water power station and electricity genearation.Finally, we witness and experience the electric system on the solar and wind panels today. 

Adding further, late Sirajuddin narrates that there was the corporate laboring system called kiryar. The wider family members and clans would support each other in their livelihood struggles including the livestock and agriculture.  In spring, summer and autumn seasons, people would work hard and extend helping hands to each other. In winter, people had sufficient time. They would sit with each other and discuss around their mutual interests. 

Recollecting the time in a nostalgic way, Sirajuddin further describes. When he was in the down country like Rawalpindi, Peshawar  or other cities of Pakistan, people from Gilgit, Baltistan or Chitral  would meet each other with a sincerity, true care, affection  and honor, despite the fact they meet for the first time. They would behave with a humility and think that they were like their closed or blood relatives. They had great respect for each other. They would offer tea and food to each other. They would extend their sincere help and care for each other.  At present, those who are even closed relatives and come across somewhere, they conversely try to avoid their mutual interactions. It has not remained so only in the cities but rather also strongly permeated in the rural settings as well. 

In the current context, Late Sirajuddin shows his disappointment from the majority of the people, especially the youth, of his area for not contributing to the economy of their families, societies and regions. The youth waste their time. Their parents invest huge money on their education and the outcomes remain idleness and remaining in sleep and beds up to the afternoon.Most of them spend their time carelessly and roam around at night baselessly.they grow long hairs and doing nothing except for biting free food. In contrast, Sirajuddin extends his deep respect and honor to those youth members who work hard and contribute productively to the economy of their families and societies. Such individuals among the youth feel that their parents have spent resources on them or their family members are in genuine needs in different ways.  This small number of youth thus work hard honestly and do not mind  to work on any position that produce fair and legal incomes for them. 

Pinpointing the rich resources of the region, he highlights further that the fruits like apple, apricots and  others get wasted but the youth of the area do not take advantage out of them to effectively cope with the situations. There are many ways to preserve and market them within the ambit of business  as well as for fulfillment of their domestic needs. The pieces of land remain barren but people don’t work on them in line with agricutlure and horticulture. Livestock is not up to the mark in the current context while in the past people would take full advantage of them through their hardwork, interdependence  and dependence on subsistence economy. At present, the youth spend their lives with idle approaches and running away from the genuine efforts and lawful income generation for themselves and their communities.Those who take business initiatives, other people blindly follow them or negatively come in competition  with them. Consequently, neither the earlier initiators nor the later competitors get success. In contrast, both categories of people in the business seriously flop out and get losse. 

It is really ironic to observe and evidence that the families in different households haven’t the desired level of income but they have the inherited properties and assets as their resources.instead of employing themselves on their land properties and  other resources and remaining away from the incomes, they employ labors from outside districts like Ghizer, Kohistan and so on.If the local community members will seriously and honestly labor on their own  land in line with innovative and lucrative agricultural  side in addition to the horticultural and livestock domains linked with different types of enterpises, the billioins of rupees going out of the valley alone will highly effectively address the underlying poverty and domestic needs. 

Late Sirajuddin further elaborates that those outside labors just in one season ultimately earn huge amount of money, buy initially motorbikes and then other types of vehicles for themselves and begin improving their quality of life in a rapid manner through various approaches. For the people from  outside, Hunza has become a highly lucrative and rich place like Dubai but for the local youth, it doesn’t matter or make any sense. Instead they contribute negatively towards serious poverty and joblessness.

People from outside take full advantage   out of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) but rather rightly and specifically to be termed the Chinese Road. The outside entrepreneurs engage in the lucrative businesses on the rout to and from China but the local youth keep themselves allof and indifferent in many ways except for opting to spend their crucial time (as the highest level of  and most precious resource) behind cheap and useless things. In such circumstances, what should and could be done about and for the youth is a big question mark? Late Sirajuddin Trump recommends that there are series of organizations and institutions in the whole area. They should arrange time to time meetings and sessions with different forums, categories and levels of the youth. They should practiclly be involved in the discussions   around their encountered and future challenges. Ultimately, they are there to effectively resolve their problems and pave the way for the positive and productive socio-political and societal changes for themselves and the coming generations of the region.  

Living outside his hometown  and region for almost two decades (by 1990)gives variety of exposures and experiences to late Sirajuddin Trump in different environments within the respective societies and cultures starting from the Hunza State (from his birth in 1955 through 1974) to different cities of Pakistan and Kuwait, and in the last phase of his life in the United States. Those experiences and exposures include not only educational pursuasion, employment endeavors, business efforts, and other related matters but also his observations encourage him to take part in the politics  and elections in different forms of democratic environment.It becomes seven years for Sirajuddin in Kuwait when he is 36 years old, he earns a great amount of money by now. looking at the changing political landscape of Hunza after elimination of the principality in 1974, Sirajuddin decides to take part in politics and contest the election at the grassroots level in 1991 for the position of District Councillor of upper Hunza. He thus submits his documents formally and descends in the political field as an independent candidate.

At this stage and period of political change of the governance system in Hunza, Let me note and specify here , that people conventionally revolved around two seriously rival parties: Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) and pro-Hunza State party (PHSP), though they were termed as Chamcha (refering to the supporters of Mir  or his family and the Principality). PHSP was however an informal party and in the later phase of its evolution, it got fused in the Pakistan Muslim League (PML). in the election of 1991, on the position of District Councillor for Gojal (as I myself witness it as I was a young polling agent for a candidate), there were more independent contestants  in addition to the traditional opponant parties PPP and the informal PHSP. 

At such point of time, Late Sirajuddin thus comes across couples of contestants in the political arena and Election of 1991. His opponants include late Shukrullah Baig of Shishkat (independent candidate), late Ali Baqah of Ghulkin (representing PHSP), Muhammad Ramzan of Ghulkin (independent candidate),Hajat Muhammad of Jamalabad (representing PPP) and late Nisar of Sost Nazimabad (independent candidate). In the video discussion, late Sirajuddin forgets one of his opposite contestants  on the one hand; and on the other, he mentions the name of late Ali Johar of Ghulkin (who was a contestant on the same political position in 1987 and not in 1991). From Ghulkin, there were thus two contestants whose names I have already described above who were his opposite candidates. 

Well, the polling day comes finally. A tough competition   is seen on the ground in addition to the decades long rigging involvement of the local administration of the Government, bureaucracies and the notoreous secret agencies as their personnel always remain negatively proactive in the field with their corrupt approaches to rig the ellection. Well, Hajat Muhammad of PPP (personally an honest and straight individual)wins the election.On the other, along with other contestants, late Sirajuddin loses the election. After acquiring this short lived and practical experience in the political arena, Late Sirajuddin  goes back to Kuwait to pursue his livelihood  strategies, because a significant amount of money he had to spend on the election. 

Though, late Sirajuddin Trump lost the election of 1991, his lively and nationalistic political thoughts, worldviews  and activism sustains in different forms. These reflect, at least, in his extensive video discussion in Urdu with me on the EaglesWorld YouTube Channel. Pertaining to the legally disputed nature and political right of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, he thinks that the national level parties proactive in the region are the main hurdle. Affiliating themselves with those national level parties of Pakistan lead towards disunity among the people of the region. There should be the parties of Gilgit-Baltistan itself and they need to be sincerely strengthened. People of the region should thus revolve around those indigenous parties and continue their political struggles, activism and development, he wonderfully pinpoints the actual bottleneck lying in the bedrocks of regional politics with logical recommendations.

Analyzing the grassroots level politics, late Sirajuddin Trump so nicely describes about and emphasizes on the internal level elections among the contestants within the individual parties as the pre-requisite. In this regard,    he smartly and ideally compares the grassroots level election within the contestants of the Republican and Democratic Parties in the United States .once, the contestants at intra-party level qualify, the respective parties then fairly support their candidates at the second level. Instead,such fair methodologies unfortunately lack among the national level parties of Pakistan and the corruption seeds are sown with multiplication in the ground of democracy from the beginning.He therefore recommends and emphasizes on the importance of intra-party elections among the contestants on top priority in Pakistan. 

Living in different societies and ethno-linguistic communities provided encouraging opportunities for late Sirajuddin to be an amazing polyglot. He enjoys life as a person with multilingual skill by speaking seven languages.Though, Wakhi (an old Eastern Iranian  language) is his mother tongue and therefore highly fluent in it, he leaves for pursuing his secondary level education in Karimabad (Central Hunza) after he qualifies his primary education in the 1960s from Gulmit (his hometown). When in Karimabad, he also acquires  Burushaski (a language isolate and the vernacular of Hunza State, especially in vogue in the Burushaski Belt).When  he goes to Chirat (a district of KP province of Pakistan) for the sake of his education, late Sirajuddin also lerns Pushto (an Eastern Iranian language, again). He thus proves his proficiency in Pushto during and after his teenage in the 1970s. When works and lives in Punjab during the time of his employment and business, late Sirajuddin also learns Punjabi. When he moves to Kuwait in 1984 and lives there for eighteen years, he also proves himself in learning and speaking Arabic efficiently. Urdu (the national language of Pakistan) is the need and compulsory for all its nationals and it is also the lingua franca. Like others, he thus learns Urdu from his schooling time.Similarly, English is compulsory in the Government schools in addition to its legal status as the official language of Pakistan. He therefore lerns English significantly from his schooling to the college time.  While in Kuwait and after 1998 when he emigrates to United States with his family, it provides him a golden opportunity to be fluent in English. 

It is important to understand and recognize that a language (no matter at what level and part of the world its speakers are)is the main key to the respective cultural treasures  and knowledge bases and resources (whether they be traditional or modern ones).Sirajuddin Trump thus acknowledges its high significance. For being a polyglot, these languages thus helped him get connected without borders with the concerned people. His friendship gets expanded with enormous people in different contexts.he shares two fascinating accounts. Some Pukhtuns (Pushto speakers)meet him in Hunza and he talks to them in their mother tongue. They consider Sirajuddin as a pukhtun and not a Wakhi. Those Pukhtuns thus ask him that what was he doing in Hunza then? Sirajuddin Trump humorously responds in a joke: “Because I am a beautiful man and a girl in Hunza fell in love with me. I therefore got married with her. I thus live here. The Pukhtuns understood his joke by then. The second story he shares  is also interesting. A  couple of young Pakistanis meet him. They inquire about the prices of some comodities  which they think to buy. They are not aware of his proficiency in couples of languages including Arabic. In order to hide their actual buying intents and thoughts on the prices of the items, they encode their conversation in Arabic as they were born in Kuwait. When they exchanged their thoughts with each other in Arabic and reverted towards him, late Sirajuddin responds and speaks in Arabic with them. Both of them however get humiliated and shocked that he knew their conversation. Whatever they had planned to bargain on the prices, it was in vain. Both of them then inquire  about the origin of late Sirajuddin if he was from Arabia. He tells them that he was a Pakistani  and American but for 18 years, he lived in Kuwait.  Both of those young Pakistanis then reveal that they were from Karachi but born in Kuwait. 

Based on his experiential knowledge and as a polyglot and originally as a Wakhi speaker, Late Sirajuddin Trump shows two of his serious and interconnected observations and concerns regarding their loss in the near future. They are two important and ancient heritages of humans, especially pertaining to the communities of Hunza, particularly in the upper part of the district. He describes and warns that Wakhi as the mother tongue of the related community stands on top as one of their old identities. Second but of equal significance, the land resources stand as the bedrock of their multiple identities and ancestral right to define their history, culture, economy and so on. He shows his highly serious concerns about both of them. Late Sirajuddin predicts that in the near future, both the language and land will unfortunately get disappeared.  He therefore warns the indigenous people to be cautious  enough  about them. 

The rationales he builds for Wakhi language by looking at and observing the behavior of the respective youth and children in the localities where they are radically inclined towards and speak English and Urdu in priority. He says that both these languages are important at national and international scales but never at the cost of one’s mother tongue.The Wakhi youth and children therefore should speak in their mother tongue and it will help sustain this endangered language in the future. Otherwise, it will then certainly be  lost and there will be no immediate way to re-gain it. 

Equally giving a serious weightage, late Sirajuddin Trump  bitterly pinpoints  and reveals the harsh realities about  disappearance  of the land resources and businesses from the hands of the native communities of whole Hunza.In this regard, he primarily and rightly holds the local communities  themselves , their leaders and organizations responsible   for such negative and unwise decisions and development.For the sake of shortcut in progressing ahead,  the native people have been selling their lands to the outsiders as the latter have already their greedy sights focussed on Hunza due to its important strategic setting with China and Central Asia and its natural resources in many terms.He thus counts up the number of businesspersons  from outside the region, despite the fact Gilgit-Baltistan is not the legal part of Pakistan, he smartly elaborates. 

Late Sirajuddin Trump further expands that in Kashmir, there is the State-Subject Rule in sustenance but in Gilgit-Baltistan, the usurpers in different forms have been making negative inroads into the local resources and monstrously eroding and exploiting the indigenous rights and value systems.Consequently, the native communities will be no where.  The day will come when the local communities will entirely get deprived of their assets and heritages in addition to becoming homeless and jobless. The outsiders in Hunza will thus succeed in their malicious intents and cunning approaches to occupy the whole region and resources of the marginalized and suppressed mountain communities while getting  initial launching pads for themselves in terms of renting hotels, buying small scale pieces of land and so on through some personnel of administration  (especially from outside Gilgit-Baltistan).He exemplifies his standpoint by equating it with those of the Jews who tactically played and got a control over the whole resources of the Palestinians.Today, their grave conditions and socio-political situations    are before the whole world. 

In his striking discussion and analysis, late Sirajuddin Trump shares some concrete and bitter realities through which the whole people of Hunza in particular and Gilgit-Baltistan Region in general are going through.For instance, the land selling and/or grabbing continues in Attabad lake area,  Aliabad, Sost, and other settlements. Fooling and forcing the local communities, the material resources like the mines and precious stones are gradually occupied  with the help of few local agents of the military land mafias as contractors such as the Frontier Works Organizations as well as other notoreous and secret devils disguised as tycoons or businesspersons. This will soon prove disastrous for the just rights of the indigenous communities through their divide and rule policies by building upon the weaknesses of the native communities who are yet imprisoned in the shells of their internal biasnesses and ethnocenterism in different contexts includeing families, clans, tribes, languages , villages and the like. 

Though, the global climate change issue is a huge challenge to all humanity and creatures, it actually begins with the local development interventions leading towards the gradual or rapid environmental degradation. In this regard, late Sirajuddin Trump so nicely talks about the prevailing issues in Hunza and Gilgit-Baltistan. Apart from the local communities themselves as contributors, a big chunk of the environmental challenge has emerged on the surface of the valley by the careless and irresponsible domestic tourists (coming from Pakistan).  Whether it is in terms of throwing the plastic shoppers or children’s pampers within the solid waste) on the highway or link roads or other places or water bodies, wastes of various kinds could be seen destroying the natural environment.Interestingly, rather ironically, the domestic tourists coming to Gilgit-Baltistan, particularly Hunza Valley, enjoy themselves the nature in different ways but keep behind dumps of garbages for the local communities and ruin the beauty of the Nature.

Late Sirajuddin Trump also talks about the water pollution for which the local community members themselves in addition  to the related organizations (public or government, private and civil society),domestic tourists and businesspersons  are highly responsible.The irrigation channels in the villages and settlements, that were so clean in the past, and people would directly drink water from them. Unfortunately, those irrigation channels are flowed by the mixture of dirty washroom and toilet water today. In particular, almost all hotelliers and restaurant runners are liable for the water poolution  that flows in the streams and river.Talking about his own hotel and resort, Sirajuddin Trump  describes that getting the designs from the United States he has made appropriate safety  tanks and the dirty waters of the washrooms and toilets get filtered in them. Finally the wastes seeps and fall in the series of pits he has made. 

Elaborating further, late Sirajuddin also gives example of a worst dranage system of the Lexus Hotel at Attabad Lake (an expensive hotel where highly rich tourists sstay). Whoever is wise, environmentally sensitive and friendly does not only raise objections but rather seriously protest over the criminality when finds the dranage system of this attractive hotel for money generation at the cost of environmental exploitation and abuse. The wastes of the bathrooms and toilets of this Hotel directly flow in the Attabad lake leading to huge and unrepairable pollution in the clean environment of Hunza. However, other hotels have also taken similar type of inspiration from the worst model. On the other, the related government organizations  are seen either indifferent  or helpless to face the negatively influential hotel owners like that of Lexus (who is from Lahore)  and they use the related public departmetns for their personal uses and stand above the law.For instance, on the complaints in the social media against this situation responsible for the direct drainage system of the water of bathrooms and toilets in the lake, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took a notice of it. But the results turned out zero when the heads of such organizations receive calls from their lords in the down countries based in Islamabad, Lahore  and other cities of Pakistan.The worst problem of the environment thus keeps its status quo. 

Well, it was also interesting to know about the negative competition among the hotel and restaurant  runners from and outside the region at Attabad lake area.This is notable among the locals themselves as well as local versus non-locals.The tug of war and influence on each other and on the environment continues. Late Sirajuddin Trump highlights a bit that how issues were made with his electric   transformer by cutting its line but he tolerated and avoided to opt for the legal actions against  those involved. It should critically be noted that those criminals as competitors or otherwise are in the surrounding of his business space, adds late Sirajuddin. Though, he could opt for taking legal actions against them, he shows his patience and restraints. Similarly, due to jealousy and greed factors, negative reactions, behaviors  and strategies are observed even in the businesses within the Attabad boating space by the locals and head of the boating asociation trying to unlawfully justify his argument.

Before moving ahead, let me bring a highly related and pertinent legal point here on record regarding rights over the surrounding natural resources. Shishkat was settled recently as the irrigation channel was constructed in 1905  during the reign  of Mir Nazeem Khan (1891-1938) under the local chief and administrator of Gulmit named Arbob Khairullah Beg son of Arbob Muhammad Ali. As per written records of hunza State (in Persian and English) Shishkat has remained the winter pasturage of Gulmit, that latter as one of the oldest settlements of Hunza  from the old times.However, after settlement of this new village of Shishkat, also named behind Mir Nazeem Khan as Nazeemabad , the initial migrants from Central hunza shared the pasturelands of indigenous community of Gulmit above Shishkat including Ghaw̃us̃h, Burundubar and Baltingbar.  The new migrants of Shishkat now making new claims over the whole land area including the emerged lake (after January 2010) is unjust and unlawful. Both communities of Gulmit and Shishkat should learn to live in unity and pluralistic manner by burrying their greed and jealousy forever. Otherwise, the externally proactive forces and outsiders will get advantage out of their internal differences and snatch all their resources from them.  They would then repent but the time would have gone then. 

Raising and discussing a highly important and pertinent point   regarding the negligence and idleness of the local businesspersons, especially related with tourism industry, Late Sirajuddin says that more or less 50%  of the local hotel owners and runners in Hunza have unfortunately handed over their hotel business to the outsiders, particularly from Punjab. In this way, one could evidence a capture over the related businesses  by the outsiders.Even, in many caes, the employees are not local and this will become disastrous that in the near future all things will be gone out of the hands of local community and they will not even be in the position to get jobs on their own land. Late Sirajuddin also shares a similar case confronted with him. One day, a tycoon from Quetta (Baluchistan ) meets Sirajuddin in his hotel , offers him a blank check to make the price of his hotel according to his own choice and cash the money as much he wants to draw out of the account of that tourist. The tourist tells Sirajuddin that he was going to visit Khunzhrav Pass and on his return, the Hidden Lake Resort late Sirajuddin should hand over to him.  In addition, he has said that his brother was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Listening the tourist and his greeding plans, Sirajuddin however refuses to sell his hotel to him. He says these are the tactics of such people from outside. Late Sirajuddin adds that when such people enter in an area, gradually they increase their power and influence in different contexts through different nexuses and finally capture the whole area and region. He censures and warns the local community, hotel and land owners  that they must avoid selling their land to the outsiders. He showed his satisfaction over a land and building owner in Shishkat that at least he didn’t sell his land and building to the outsider , instead he made a serious legal agreeement on lease basis for fifteen years with him. After end of the specified time, the agreeement will be terminated. He therefore recommends to, at least, then opt for the lease approach with functional legal binding and agreeements. 

At the end of his discussion, Late Sirajuddin Trump comes up with his beautiful message to the youth and coming generations. He advises them to be consistent in their life struggles, continue hardwork in the field of their interest and choice, never feel humiliated  or hesitated in the tasks that come before them at any stage of their life, not to be negative towards the nature of job that comes in front of them in compulsion at a time when it is a competitive age, and act upon those aspects of the practical life experiences of him and those wherever the audience think that could be beneficial to them.

Well, let’s come to the conclusion now.More than sixx decades of life accounts of late Sirajuddin Trump (at least when he was over five years in 1960   to 2021)provides us enormous and deep insights into and initial understanding of the respective peoples, cultures, societies  and countries he lived for a significant level of time. His frequent Interactions with various levels of people and encountered challenges appearing on his pathways along with effective strategies he has taken and availing the emerging opportunities coming on his way thereby are inspiring in many ways. When we look bak, they begin from his hometown Gulmit (second capital of Hunza State) to Karimabad (the main Capital of Hunza state till 1974), from Pakistan to Kuwait and his last settlement as permanant immigrant in the United States of America  for the rest of his life reflect untiring and series of efforts and linkages that enabled him and his family to be honest to a greater extent, sincere and consistent in their life struggles if successes have to be made part of their destiny.Here is a great lesson that when an individual does work hard with honesty, sincerity  and within the legal framework, he or she cannot get deprived of the opportunities coming on the way. 

The comprehensive discussion of late Sirajuddin Trump around various themes and protest over his genuine concern for series of collective issues are awe-inspiring on the one hand, and highly shocking on the other.  Undoubtedly, they  matter a lot for the local communities of the country and region. All immediate stakeholders therefore need to be conscious enough, act for their sustained future and development, especially keeping in view the young and coming generations, move towards realistic and effective strategies in a practical way. 

Late Sirajuddin Trump highlights those human-led disastrous issues and situations so smartly in different ways at different places within his capacity and thorough verbal discourse. Deduction out of the discussion and analytical interpretation based on logic include supression of human rights and freedom of expression in Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, authoritative restriction on mainstream and social media, oppression regarding real democracy (embedded at grassroots level and among the huge populace), consistent breach of law and putting rule of law under the feet of powerful forces, judicial independece under unlawful forces and usurpers, illegitimate practice of huge election rigging  through the nexus of notorious   evil forces revolving around the axis of devils, systtematic grabbing and occupation of land and other natural resources in Pakistan, especially in the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan Region with special focus on Hunza, serious issues with regard to rapid and continuous environmental  degradation in the whole region , seizure of economic opportunities for the local mountain communities, cultural marginalization, social exploitation,  language politics, endangerment and loss, divide and rule policies , and many more.  

The message late Sirajuddin Trump has given at the end of his discussion is based on his own life practice. Although, he was emotional and a bit agressive in nature if he thought something was not on the track, nonetheless he was a simple in different terms. Despite the fact he was a wealthy person of the region, he never showed off it and remained simple and down to earth. Not only so but rather would  do the simple task own his own.  This is what a big lesson is there to the youth and all those who are  well-off and wealthy.  He would support some families but would not share it with others by saying that when one hand helps someone deserving, the second hand should not know it.  This is an awe-inspiring approach of his life to contribute to the poor and marginalized people.

At the end, I am going to make a few important remarks to conclude this article here. I would like to tell all those who are within the civil society organizations,whether in voluntary capacity or as paid professional,  to identify, recognize and acknowledge such resourceful, important and sincere  persons who are members of your community and society. Value them truly bwithout any biases, personal likeness and dislikeness, and so on. No one, even those  serving currently different organizations and insitutions of the civil society, could be termed perfect or ideal to lead the respective organizations because all humans are imperfect and prone to errors. In such way, human societies evolve from the beginning to date. 

I know and feel that late Sirajuddin Trump had a strong wish to contribute  more and more to the civil society in voluntary capacity by becoming not only part of a couple of organizations but also determined to lead them based on his extensive experience.  Unfortunately,  he was not given opportunities in this regard and his candidacy was negatively resisted through local organizational politics. Nonetheless,  he significantly  contributed to his society and community within his capacity to a maximum level. Though, he is no more with us in this world today, he is alive in video and within some important domains of his biography. His important contributions will set a solid tradition for all those who want to serve their community, society and humanity in a broader context in addition to raising, nurturing and serving their families. 

 Acknowledgement:  I am so grateful to late Sirajuddin Trump for his consent to share some aspects of his enriched life accounts in detail for EaglesWorld YouTube Channel. It was that same recorded discussion in video form, which enabled me to contribute  abit on his life stories and other important aspects at collective, societal, communal, cultural,  socio-political  and environmental realms in a comparative context. May God bless his soul with eternal rest, peace and elevation. 

I am also thankful to Sarah Khan daughter of Sirajuddin Trump for correcting a couple of names of his siblings. My special gratitude to my respected school teacher  Mr. Wafa Baig (paternal cousin of late Sirajuddin), Mr. Sifatuddin of Ghulkin (one of my cousins for a correction regarding the political candidates from his village  in the election in which late Sirajuddin had taken part) and my beloved daughters Fazila Roshan Beg and Surush Ayman Beg for technical facilitation and time to time help. Last but never least, my sincere gratitude as ever to my siblings Amin Beg and family,   and H. Zareen Beg for their compassionate and selfless support, encouragement and enalbing environment regarding my academic endeavors. 

Note: Those interested to watch the detailed Urdu interviews in two parts with late Sirajuddin Trump could get access to them on the following links: 

Part 1: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT4gPASyzwU&t=564s  

Part 2:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX01t6OkAH8&t=14s 

note: Due to some prevailing technical and other issues with my website, it was not possible for me to publish this biography in time despite the fact it was written in the third week of July, 2024. My apologies from all visitor  of FAZALAMIN.COM for the inconvenience. Sooner all issues are removed, you’ll be able to smoothly enter in each published posts.