Often labeled as the headmaster, the lone survivor and the scholar militants, young and full of zeal Kashmiri boys embrace martyrdom to dignify their freedom fight.
It was a normal day for me until I texted one of my friend in Shopian, and did not get his reply even after an hour. On checking my social media saw my timeline of twitter and there it was, loaded with the breaking news of assassination of Riyaz Naikoo, famously known as the headmaster.
A mathematician turned into a freedom fighter, lost his life in his native hometown on May 6.
It took 36 hours of cordon and search operation for forces to finally come face to face with Naikoo.
He was in his native village area called Beighpora of Awantipora in southern Kashmir. According to media reports the gun battle lasted for six hours. He was one of the longest surviving commanders of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Kashmir.
Anyone who will hear his story would not keep himself to his sanity. One more young Kashmiri died due to the brutalities of Indian army.
The last decade of this century is known as the new age of militancy in Kashmir. It took a decade for Indian army to assassinate the young group of freedom fighter which included Riyaz Naikoo, Burhan Wani, Manan Wani, Sabzar Ahmad Sofi a 29 year old bright student, who had qualified competitive National Eligiblity Test (NET), Junior Research Fellow (JRF) exams, and left home saying he was joining coaching sessions in Delhi for the upcoming Indian Administrative Service (IAS) exams, he had completed his Masters in Science (MSC) from Burkhatulla University in 2014, and his MPhil from Jivagee University in Gwalior before joining Jamia Milia Islamia in Delhi in 2016, all the bright and the shining stars of the valley.
Just after 7 days of Naikoo’s assassination, one more young Kashmiri lost his live, but contrary to the above mentioned case this youth was not the commander of Hizb-ul- Mujahideen.
His name was Miraj ud Din shah and he was travelling with his uncle Ghulam Hassan Shah, Assistant Sub-Inspector in Jammu and Kashmir Police. According to him, Shah was killed by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the Kawoosa area of Budgam in Kashmir.
Police and paramilitary claim that his nephew fled two checkpoints when fired upon. Although the uncle says that he was getting his ID when shah was hit.
In this case a policeman was sitting beside the victim and could not save him, just imagine what would be the condition of a normal citizen in Kashmir.
Alas, one more young Kashmiri.
A same case happened in 2014 when the Army men left two boys dead and two injured at Chattergam. They fired 118 rounds at their Maruti car, with 28 bullets hitting the vehicle.
FIR was registered and the investigation is still going on. Are Kashmiris there to receive bullets when they do not surrender to the oppressors?
Check posts, curfew, internet blockade and what not? There is a pattern of torture. One incident leads to another and the whole areas face its aftershocks. Internet was snapped right after Naikoo’s killing and again after the Shah’s tragic incident.
Did they deserve to die like this? No, they do not deserve this. They were focusing on their future like every normal person would do but what forced them to pick a gun and fight?
Injustice in society? No. Corruption? No. Street crimes? No. Then what? They were forced to die inhumanly because of the cruel torture of Indian army. Enforced disappearances, rapes, murders, physical and mental torture forced them to pick up a gun against oppression.
Kashmir is a disputed territory, everyone knows that, there are more than 600,000 – 700,000 army personnel present in Kashmir and the number rose after the abrogation of article 370 which snapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 2019.
Indian army till date has assassinated thousands of young gems of Kashmir by killing them in encounters and damaged the youth by pressurizing them and their families by different means.
They take youngsters from the neighborhood and torture them just to leave the rest of the boys in fear which directly affect their ability to think and experience a normal life.
Every second person in the valley is suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Are they children of lesser God? How these political systems, or fascist regime can snatch their basic living rights? They deserve education, health, internet and every facility to live a healthy and normal life. But what they do, they pick up a gun and fight for their integrity and survival.
During his speech at the 74th session of the UNGA, the Pakistani premier Imran Khan said: “We all know that marginalisation leads to radicalization. And Modi’s actions would radicalise Kashmiris and increase the likelihood of a terrorist attack.”
If you see the attacks that happened in Kashmir in the last decade all were carried out by local youth. If you push a human being to that limit where his own life would not matter in front of the injustice happening to others, he or she will surely pick up a gun.
“They could not stop this after killing Manan and this will not end with Naikoo. India has lost its battle in Kashmir.” Said a Kashmiri friend.
The question is till when? Can we say next year would be great for Kashmiris? Or they will enjoy their freedom after two years. You never know. And you cannot even give them false hope. All the lobbies in the world are just doing politics over Kashmir. They are more concerned about the land of Kashmir than Kashmiris.
But as I always say, till the last Kashmiri live young or old, they will chant “Azaadi”.
The writer is a journalist working for International organizations and tweets at @qiranbutt