Son follows father’s footsteps, to the grave

Shujaat-ul-Islam’s happiness knew no bounds when he solemnised the wedding of his older sister in a simple function barely two months ago in Anantnag. For 20-year-old Islam, the wedding was special because 14 years back, his father Mohammad Ashraf had been shot dead by Ikhwanis (surrendered militants on the payroll of the army) on the day he had invited his brother-in-law for a post-marriage lunch. This wedding had put the seal on that tragic wedding of the past. Or so it seemed, when tragedy again struck the family last month, on June 29, when cops killed Islam in cold blood. They were chasing the protesters in Anantnag when the horror took place, leaving the family in shock.

“Islam was in the second standard in school when his father was killed by the Ikhwanis in 1996. The family suffered in silence for so many years, but did not lose heart. And now, when he had grown up and become a responsible member of the family, the cops snatched him away from us,” says Mushtaq Ahmad, Islam’s cousin.

Islam was among the three persons killed by the police on June 29. Among the dead was his friend Ishtiyaq Ahmad Khanday, whose uncle Farooq Ahmad Khanday was Islam’s guardian. “Islam was a pious boy who had in-depth knowledge of the Quran,” says Mushtaq.

Sixty kilometers away in old Srinagar city, the Bangroo family is still mourning the death of their son Rafiq Ahmad Bangroo. Rafiq was allegedly beaten up by CRPF men on June 12 outside his home. He battled for his life in a hospital for a week, before succumbing to his wounds on June 20.

Rafiq is the seventh member of the Bangroo family to have fallen victim to the turmoil since 1990. “All of these men were innocents and died in similar circumstances. Even before our wounds could heal, Rafiq’s close relative Javaid Ahmad Malla was also killed ruthlessly”, says Abdul Ahad Bangroo, Rafiq’s father.

Rafiq was a school drop-out who worked as a shawl weaver to support his family. “Rafiq was a master craftsman. On the day he was hit he had weaved a portion of a shawl,” Ahmad recalls.
Rafiq’s friend Javaid has a similar story. Poverty forced the 17-year-old to discontinue his studies a few years ago, and he started working as a labourer in a bag-manufacturing unit at Khanmoh.  “He used to come home once in a week. But I should have told him to stay back. Had I not asked him to come back, he would have been alive today,” said Jalla Begum, mother of slain Javaid

In the last four weeks, 15 youth have been killed in police and CRPF firing in the Kashmir valley. “As a mother, I can understand the pain of their parents and know that no amount of sympathy can reduce their pain and sense of loss,” says Mehbooba Mufti, PDP president.

The killings have only helped the cause of the separatists, who now have a handle to further their secessionist agenda in Kashmir. Regular protest calendars, Quit Jammu & Kashmir slogans, civil disobedience, and late night protest programmes have become routine. Hardliners have become so strong that the moderates are now feeling the heat.

“It’s an organised and systematic genocide carried out by India in Kashmir to browbeat the liberation movement aimed at achieving the right to self-determination”, said Mir Mohammad Iqbal, president, Jammu Kashmir Mahaz-e-Azadi.