Why did killers snatch my sons? Wails mother of J&K siblings killed by militants

While huge crowds turning up for funerals of militants was a norm a few years back, on Sunday, people gathered to participate in the funeral prayers of a policeman and his brother killed by militants on Saturday in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

Special Police Officer (SPO) Ishfaq Dar and his student brother Umar Dar were grievously injured in a hit-and-run militant attack in Chadbugh village of Budgam late Saturday evening. While Ishfaq succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital, Umar breathed his last in a hospital on Sunday morning.

Reports and eyewitnesses said as the bodies of the siblings reached their home, heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed in the village. The mourners could not control their tears and wailed.

“What was my sin that the killers snatched my sons? I want to go and (die) with my sons. Please lay me to rest with my sons. If you (militants) had to kill someone, why didn’t they kill me,” the wailing mother of the duo was heard saying.

Village women, who were trying to console her, could not resist and were seen in tears themselves. “This is barbaric and brutal. Instead of killing us one by one, they (militants) should kill us at once. Is it a crime to be a policeman?” they asked.

As people were gathering for funeral prayers, one of the family members announced that either they should be told what was the fault of the slain brothers, else the bereaved family will migrate.

“We will be leaving the village following the deaths of the two brothers,” the bereaved family announced. “Or tell us what was their fault? Why were they killed?”

As the bodies of the slain brothers were being taken on their final journey, women were seen showering flowers and toffees on the coffins. Later, a few thousand people attended the funeral prayers of the slain.

Besides their parents, the slain siblings are survived by two more brothers and a married sister.

From 2015 to 2020, huge crowds were seen turning up for funerals of militants in Kashmir. According to unofficial estimates, more than two lakh people in all age groups participated in Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani’s funeral prayers on July 9, 2016. In December 2016, thousands of people attended the funeral of Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Majid Zargar. But in recent years, a huge number of people have started to come out for the funeral of policemen killed on duty.

Over 1,700 policemen have been killed in the line of duty in Jammu and Kashmir since the beginning of the insurgency in the union territory in 1989, official figures reveal.

Established in 1873, the Jammu and Kashmir Police force has been at the forefront of fighting Pakistan-sponsored proxy war in the UT since late 1980s and has lost over 1,700 personnel, including officers of different ranks, in the line of duty.

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