In their death, families have lost more than just sons

In their death, families have lost more than just sons
MUZAMIL JALEEL

SRINAGAR, JANUARY 4: ``I can't believe Ayub will never return. He had never returned home late,'' says Mohammad Ismail Mir (58) in disbelief, ``He will return. He might have gone to the university.''

It is only a day after the massive Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast, in which Mir's 22-year-old son Ayub was killed along with sixteen others and he is yet to come to terms with this tragedy.

Ayub, a BA final student, had been selling vegetables in Punchi Mandi vegetable market to help his father. He had been working in the mandi for the past three years. ``It was convenient for him. He could work as well as go to the college regularly as all the business in the mandi is done in the morning,'' said a relative. Ayub would rush to the market early in the morning, work for a few hours and then return home to leave for the college. As was his routine for years, he went for work yesterday, never to return. He was blown to pieces as the IED had been planted just outside the shed that he used asa shop.

The villagers in this small hamlet in the Srinagar outskirts thronged the Mirs' home to condole the death. Women tried to console Ayub's sisters and men gathered around Mir in a dingy room in their old, mud house. The family is poor and was dependent on Ayub.

The family had a cloth business which got collapsed after the emergence of militancy. ``Who had planted the mine in the mandi and why?'' an old man asked, but nobody had any answers. ``How do we know? It is barbaric,'' replied one, ``Killing the innocent and poor is in no way courageous.''

None among the mourners was ready to blame the militants directly. In fact, the rumour that majority of the people got killed in the firing by the forces after the blast was making rounds here as well. Women, however, blamed the militants. ``Innocents have been massacred and that too in this holy month of Ramzan. God will never let this innocent blood go waste,'' a woman wailed. ``Ayub could not even be recognised as there were wounds all over hisbody. What was his fault? How could these poor vendors prevent forces from coming there ?''

Hospital authorities also said that not even a single person had died of bullet injuries. ``It was only splinters,'' Dr Umar Sharief Kirmani, who attended most of the victims in SMHS hospital, told The Indian Express.

A few kilometres ahead in Noorbagh, tragedy also struck another family. Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat (30), father of an infant and the only bread-earner in his family, was also killed in the same blast. Bhat and Ayub were fast friends besides being partners in the small vegetable business. While Ayub was inside the shop, Bhat collapsed outside as shrapnel pierced his chest and throat. ``It is bitter reality. Only poor become victims of this death and destruction,'' said Mohammad Aslam, a neighbour. ``If rich and influential become victims of such acts, it will create havoc everywhere. Who cares about the poor?'' he asked.

The story is the same for all the families of the vendors who were killed in theblast. Those injured are in a much worse condition. Being daily wagers, their families would eat what they would earn in a day. Now the families have to bear the burden of their medication also.