Srinagar- Just two weeks ago, the house echoed with laughter as hundreds gathered for his daughter’s wedding. On Monday, cries of anger and anguish rang through Dr Shahnawaz Dar’s residence in Budgam’s Nayidgam village and the streets around it, the celebration so quickly giving way to mourning.
Slogans of ‘Naara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is the greatest) were heard as several thousands paid their last respects to the 52-year-old killed in a terror attack on Sunday in Gagangir in the Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir.
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The doctor and six labourers were gunned down by terrorists at a tunnel-construction site on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway.
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The Nayidgam village, situated just a short distance from the ancestral village of banned Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Sallahudin, was enveloped in mourning as the community came together to honour the memory of the beloved doctor.
“This has come like a bolt of lightning from the sky. The family was still celebrating the wedding and now this news,” said Ali Mohammad, a neighbour of the doctor.
Dr Dar’s funeral procession, marked by the poignant cries of women and the grief-stricken faces in the crowd, was taken to his ancestral graveyard through the village lanes.
He was laid to rest as the mourners, who arrived from Nayidgam in Soibugh area of Budgam and adjoining areas, demanded justice. The atmosphere of gloom was pierced by cries of “Dar Saheb Zindabad” and calls for revolution in the wake of his sacrifice.
By the time the ambulance carrying the mortal remains of the doctor reached his native village, the mourners’ numbers had swelled and they hailed him as a martyr.
They participated in the prayers ceremony and paid their last respects. The doctor is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Mohsin, determined to fulfil his father’s dreams, expressed his aspiration to become an IAS officer and serve the society, a legacy his father and the kind-hearted doctor leaves behind.
Neighbours and relatives remembered Dr Dar as a pillar of support, a fatherly figure who selflessly cared for not only his own children but also his siblings after the early loss of their parents.
“He was both our father and mother. He raised us after our parents left this world early. Today, we have really been orphaned,” his sister said, tears rolling down her cheek.
Dr Dar was posted as a doctor at a tunnel construction site by APCO Infratech, an infrastructure company he was working for.
According to officials, the terrorists — believed to be at least two — opened indiscriminate fire on a group that had returned to their camp late in the evening. Five persons sustained injuries in the attack and are undergoing treatment.
The doctor’s killing is a heinous crime, a neighbour said. “In Islam, we believe that killing an innocent is as good as killing all humans. Doctor sahib was innocent, he was kind and helped people in need,” he added.Six construction workers and a doctor were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district last night. The terrorists opened fire on a camp housing workers of a private company, who were building a tunnel.Both locals and non-locals were present at the campsite and at least two terrorists opened gunfire.
The victims were identified as Dr Shahnawaz, a resident of Nayidgam Kashmir’s Budgam, Gurmeet Singh from Punjab’s Gurdaspur, Mohammad Haneef, Faheem Nasir, a safety manager, and Kaleem, were from Bihar, Anil Kumar Shukla, a mechanical manager from Madhya Pradesh, and Shashi Abrol, a designer from Jammu.
The attackers left behind an INSAS rifle. Also, two vehicles of the company were burnt in the incident. Police have stopped the media from reaching the site of the attack. Journalists were not allowed to move beyond Manigam, 50 km from the attack site because of the ongoing search operation, the police said.
Inspector general of police VK Birdi said the victims were transported to the hospital after being fired upon by terrorists, but they succumbed to their injuries. “The incident took place in a densely forested area, but security forces swiftly reached the location and cordoned off the area,” he added.
The attack was the deadliest on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir since the June 9 incident in Reasi when nine pilgrims were killed after the bus they were in plunged into a valley when it came under gunfire from terrorist
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