Salman Shah
The preparations for the wedding of Bint ul Islam (24) from South Kashmir were finalized the last week and the date of the wedding was Thursday (11 March 2021). As relatives and neighbors started thronging their house on Thursday, the news of the encounter that had raged in the nearby Kandipora area of Bijbehara in South Kashmir spread like wildfire.
Kandipora in Islamabad (Anantnag) district is not more than six kilometers away from Sheetipora Bijbehara where the wedding of Bint ul Islam was being held. But as the preparations were being held, Bint ul Islam stormed outside her room and limping to the outside of the house, She burst out aloud, “Aes Pyeouw taawan” (We are doomed).
An encounter raged between Government Forces and Militants in the Kandipora area of Islamabad (Anantnag) district on the Wednesday evening when a party of Government Forces including the 03RR of Indian Army, Jammu Kashmir Police, and CRPF laid a joint cordon and search operation in the Kandipora area. As the inputs were being followed and a search conducted, the Militants holed up in the area, opened fire upon forces triggering an encounter, the SSP of Anantnag Sandeep Choudhary told the media.
He said that the operation was brought to a complete halt and in the meantime, the Militants were being persuaded to surrender and they will be granted a chance to lead a normal life, however, they started firing again early morning. During the exchange of gunfire two Militants have been killed. “They are yet to be identified,” the SSP said.
Meanwhile as per eyewitnesses sporadic clashes erupted around the encounter site as hundreds of locals hit the streets and threw stones on Government Forces deployed for the encounter in the area.
As soon as the bullet sounds stopped, the news of the Adil Ahmed Bhat son of Abdul Hameed Bhat reached his household where people had gathered for the wedding of his handicapped sister, Bint ul Islam. The situation soon turned traumatic. “There is complete mourning and grief,” Ghulam Mohammed, a local told The Kashmiriyat over the phone.
He said that Adil had left home in later October and some days later on the 03 of November last year his photograph appeared on Social media saying that he had joined Militancy. “He had been taking care of his handicapped sister, Bint ul Islam for a long time now, he was studying when his father re-married after their mother passed away,” Ghulam Mohammed said.
“He quit his studies and started driving a load carrier to take care of his sister and his daily needs, they were doing good as they also had an apple business to support them, then he suddenly went missing,” he told The Kashmiriyat over the phone. His other sister has been married a few years ago. “After many years, The other sister, who is handicapped was finally getting married to a man who is ready to live as a House-husband, but we did not know such tragedy will befall on this day when all people in our neighborhood were so happy.”
She has been traumatized since her brother who had been taking care of her disappeared from his home. Unwilling to get away from home or showing the least interest to get married, Bint ul Islam confined herself to the four walls of her house and got busy with the household chores. “Nobody knows what is happening, all the preparations are left as they were, everything is left as it is, we do not know what happened to the guests or the meat that had been cooked for the guests, I have left the place as the songs of wedding suddenly turned into dirges of death,” he told The Kashmiriyat.
The officials have not identified the two slain youth as of yet.
“The home was preoccupied with the commotion of the relatives and guests,” Ghulam Mohammed said, adding, “The bride was putting all the jewelry and made herself ready for her marriage, The news of Adil came as a shock. Everyone burst into tears and started crying and praying for his return. He could not make it to the wedding of his sister, we feel that is why he was around this area, just to attend the wedding of his sister,” another local said.
The officials have not identified the two slain youth as of yet.