Bandipore: – Holding a sewing needle in one hand and her brother’s newly tailored Kurta in another, Rahila, 23, is still waiting for her brother to return home from Eid prayers.
She wants to show him the Eid kurta, she had got made for him. Her eyes often turn towards the door in anticipation of her beloved brother’s return.
Mustafa Ahmad Mir, an 18 year old resident of Dachigam, Bandipore was killed when he was hit by a tear gas shell on the day of Eid. Mustafa is the first victim of the police action in this north-western district in the ongoing turmoil that has left more than 80 persons dead so far.
With tears streaming down her face, Ameena, Mustafa’s mother, recalls how her son would always talk about azadi and the atrocities inflicted on Kashmiris by the security forces. She recalls how her only son would put his head on her lap and tell her his ordeal of not fighting for the rights of people as ordained by Almighty.
While the reality has sunk in for Ameena, Mustafa’s two sisters Aasiya, 25 and Rahila, 23 still refuse to believe that their brother has gone forever.
“O miani yaro mekus lagi maenz’’ (Who will paint my hands with Henna on my wedding now) wails Aasiya, sitting in a corner of the room full of mourners.
In another corner Rahila is shouting at the mourners telling them not to come to their house as her brother has never broken any promise. “Tem won be yem val vale wapas” (He promised that he will return fast. We have to take our lunch together.
The mourners look helplessly at the frail little girl while she awaits her brother’s return. “If only he could come back once”, says one of them. “She will surely die from grief. She loved him far too much to be able to bear his loss”, says another neighbour.
How the events unfolded on Eid
On Eid-ul-Azha, when the entire valley was put under a strict curfew, despite being denied the permission to offer Eid prayers in the local Eidgah, residents here marched towards the Eidgah.“We always offer Eid prayers in the Eidgah. We have been doing it for generations and ordering us to offer the Eid prayers in our local mosques was a direct interference in our religious affairs”, says Javed Hassan.
According to the locals, announcements were made by the youth in the local mosques- Peer Masjid, Naag Masjid and Jamiya Jadeed asking people to assemble near Naag Masjid from where they will march towards Eidgah for Eid Prayers.“After gathering near Naag Masjid, we all started our march towards Eidgah. Security forces deployed in every nock and corner of the main town stepped aside and allowed the people to walk towards the Eidgah but as soon as we reached near Eaglet’s Public School, the police intercepted us and resorted to massive teargas shelling”, recalls an eyewitness.
“But Mustafa was defiant. Despite the shells raining down on us, he continued to move forward. Seeing him trying to march on, the SSP Bandipore, disembarked from his white Bolero and fired a tear gas shell from a point blank range towards Mustafa. The shell hit him in the head and he fell down. The next thing we saw was the blood gushing from his head. We rushed to help him but the police didn’t allow us to reach him. After some time an SOG cop checked Mustafa’s pulse and realising that he was dead, he signalled colleagues to flee”,Sameer Ahmad Hajam told Kashmir Observer.
The residents then put Mustafa’s body on a hand-cart and ferried it towards the hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.
Unaware about the tragedy that had befallen on them, Mustafa’s two sisters and his mother were busy in preparing his favourite dishes for lunch. “A neighbour came running to our house, beating her chest. I rushed towards the gate to see what was wrong but instead saw my beautiful boy, drenched in blood being brought home. My entire world collapsed. I refused to believe it was him. He had never done anybody any wrong yet he was killed brutally. The killers didn’t even spare him on Eid’’, his inconsolable mother said wailing.
Mustafa who was not allowed to offer prayers at Eidgah managed to reach there in his death.
His body was taken to Eidgah in a large procession and his funeral prayers were offered there by thousands. He was laid to rest in a nearby graveyard.
The Police Version
Rebuffing the claims of the locals, the police say that Mustafa was killed after falling on an iron dustbin while running.
“People tried defying the curfew in the area and we restored to lathi charge and used a few tear gas shells and stun grenades to disperse them. Mustafa was not hit by any shell or pellets. He died because he lost control while running and fell on an iron wrought dustbin”, SHO Bandipore Gazanfer Ali told Kashmir Observer.
SSP Bandipore, Sheikh Zulfikar Azad also refuted the claims that Mustafa was hit by a teargas shell. “We are still waiting for the medical report and once the report will come, the truth will be revealed”, he said.
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