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| After siblings in Sopore, father-son duo gunned down in Handwara | | Mirwaiz, Mehbooba condemn what they ignored for 20 years | | Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
EARLY TIMES REPORT
SRINAGAR, May 28: Four months after killing two young daughters of a poor labourer in Sopore, suspected militants have gunned down the only bread earner of a poor family, alongwith his father, in Handwara area of North Kashmir. Even as the ruling coalition and almost all other mainstream and separatist leaders were tightlipped over the carnage till late this evening, Chairman of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and President of the mainstream Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, did not lose any time in condemning what Kashmir's politicians have ignored with their support of silence in the last over 20 years.
Informed sources in north Kashmir told Early Times that late last evening three persons armed with AK-47 rifles barged into the house of a school-teacher, Manzoor Ahmed Mir, at Bon Watsar in Zachaldara area of Handwara. According to Manzoor's mother, the strangers identified themselves as 'mujahideen' and insisted that they would take dinner and stay there for a night. After taking the dinner, the intruders asked about Manzoor and his father, Ghulam Rasool Mir. The middle-aged woman told them that the teacher was making some preparations as he was scheduled to take students and fellow teachers on a picnic on Saturday.
Thereafter, the gunmen directed the woman to get her son and husband for an interaction with the "guests". Orders were obeyed accordingly. The gunmen directed all the inmates to lie on the floor. As soon as they did, the gunmen showered bullets from their AK-47 rifles on the 27-year-old teacher and his father. Both died on spot. After the gunmen vanished into darkness, inmates and neighbours raised commotion. Later, Police and security forces also reached the spot but there was immediately no clue available with regard to whereabouts or identity of the assassins.
Still unmarried, Manzoor had been recently regularized in government service as a teacher after working as Rehbar-e-Taleem for over four years. With three younger brothers, he was the only bread earner in the family.
Since the carnage was widely being viewed as handiwork of militants, nobody staged a protest as happens in strife-torn Valley whenever Police, soldiers or counter-insurgents are suspected behind a slaying. Even as most of the mainstream and separatists politicians were as usual tightlipped over the twin killings, one each of them, namely PDP President Mehbooba Mufti and Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, issued statements in condemnation of the innocent civilian killing.
Kashmir's politicians and human rights activists have been invariably adopting silence over the killings committed or believed to be committed by militants. On the other hand, they have been jostling against one another in condemning the killings done or believed to be done by Police, security forces or counter-insurgents.
As many as 17 civilians have been similarly shot dead by suspected militants in Kashmir valley in the last five months of current year. Suspected militants had kidnapped two young daughters of a poor ration depot labourer, Ghulam Nabi Dar, namely Kulsooma and Aarifa, on January 30th night and shot them dead in Muslim Pir locality of apple-town Sopore, in North Kashmir. After years of providing support of silence to suck killings, most of the Valley's politicians had severely condemned the twin murder. It was first time that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took the separatists and pseudo-separatists head on and questioned their ignoring the brutal assassination on Twitter. |
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