When his only son named Athar Mushtaq was alive, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani always kept him under his gaze and close to his chest. Now, after the death of his son, the grieving father maintains the sentiments, as he wants government approval to move his son’s body to a grave he himself dug in his village in Pulwama of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.
Athar Mushtaq (17) and two other young men, aged 22 and 24, were killed in a meeting with the Jammu and Kashmir Army and Police in Srinagar on Wednesday, sparking controversy as their families have raised doubts about the authenticity. of the shooting. The charges have been refuted by the Jammu and Kashmir army and police, who described the murdered youths as “terrorists” and “surface workers” respectively. The families of the murdered youths have maintained from the beginning that the three were “innocent and killed in a simulated encounter”. In response, the police have stepped up their claim, citing that they have digital evidence and intelligence evidence suggesting that the trio were involved in “militant activities.”
“My son was a minor, innocent and murdered in cold blood,” Wani reiterated.
On the fourth day of mourning, the distraught father quietly left his home, grabbed a shovel and spade, and walked to his native cemetery in Pulwama’s Bellow village. To the surprise of the villagers, he began to dig a grave on his own even when relatives and neighbors offered to help. “I want to do it myself,” he told them to which they responded with slogans like “Athar ke laash wapis karo, wapis karo” (give us back Athar’s body).
Wani, apparently devastated, said that nothing will prevent him from claiming the body of his son who was buried on Wednesday in Sonamarg, an area more than 100 kilometers from his village, under constant police surveillance. As part of a new protocol started last year, the government will not hand over the militants’ bodies to their families to discourage the recruitment of new militants during the large funeral rallies that used to take place before.
“Tomorrow I will visit the Srinagar Police Control Room and urge the officers to return my son’s body. If they don’t, I will commit suicide,” he said with teary eyes. “Athar was posed as a militant by the security forces for his personal gain,” Wani said, adding that he is willing to wait for his son’s body until eternity.
Meanwhile, the families of the other two murdered youths, who ironically have members working for the Jammu and Kashmir police, have also demanded the return of their bodies and a fair investigation into the encounter. The police have assured that they will launch an investigation and their agents will bring the facts to light.
Former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have demanded that the bodies be returned to the families so they can give their children a proper burial. Mufti even wrote a letter to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Singh.
(With input from Qayoom Khan)
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