Bhat Yasir
‘We want Justice’– slogans reverberated as activists on Monday, visited the house of a 26-year-old civilian killed in CRPF firing after a vehicle had allegedly ‘jumped’ checkpoint in South Kashmir’s Anantnag, last week.
The deceased, Parvez Ahmad Khan, was the sole bread earner of a poor Bakerwal family, consisting of seven members including two minor daughters, pregnant wife, a minor sister and younger brother besides old parents. The distraught family is unable to come to terms with the killing.
“We do not know why he was killed. We still fail to understand why Gujjars were being targeted. On one hand, they demolish our houses and on the other, we are being killed in fake encounters,” his wife said.
The killing of Parvez takes place at such a time when the mainstream narratives has overtones of anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmir hatred and every word said on the mainstream media is aimed at demonising the majority community of Kashmir.
Jammu Kashmir Police said that the vehicle in which Parvez was travelling had no number plate. The vehicle was trying to pass through the checkpoint and when the police tried to intercept the vehicle, the deceased rushed the car towards them.
“The vehicle was then challenged by the on-duty troops, who fired in self defence, killing one person,” the Police said. They added that the driver managed to escape from the spot.
The killing happened at a time when seven other killings happened in Kashmir. The deceased included members of the minority community. The officials blamed the Militants for killings that evoked widespread condemnation from all quarters of the society. Sections of the media used these unfortunate killings to target the Muslim community of Kashmir.
Angered over the absence of his killing in the media narratives, Advocate Irfan Hafiz Lone, activist and DDC member Sangrama said, “Why is the Godi media not talking about it? Why do they not debate on this?”
“Why not there is any debate on Pavaiz’s death in national media?” Irfan asked.
“If he was a suspect, the forces could have fired at the tyre of the vehicle, but he was directly fired upon,” Irfan raised questions.
Waqar H Bhatti- famous activist and TV debater, who was part of this group said, “As far as possible, we will fight for him. He was innocent,” adding, “Why do the leaders, activists and politicians who divide us on communal lines not visit the house of this poor nomad family?”
Guftar Ahmed Chowdhary, a famous political activist of Pir Panjal told The Kashmiriyat, “Everyone is talking about killing of Chemist, school teachers, but nobody is talking about this poor Kashmiri who was murdered for no fault. We equally stand with all those families in this tough time, but what about family of poor Parvez Ahmed who has not even house to live in. Who will provide for his kids, wife, old parents now?”
Zakir Ahmad, victim’s brother speaking to The Kashmiriyat said, “At dawn, a police party took Parvez’s body to a nearby mountain, where he was buried hastily without the family’s consent.”
He claimed that the family was not allowed to perform his last rites or attend the funeral prayers. “We could not even get the last glimpse of his face. We want justice,” Zakir Ahmad said.