Irshad Hussain
Most of the graves in Srinagar’s Martyrs’ Graveyard were covered by leaves and fog in the morning today. Many survivors, mostly fathers and burqa clad women come here to pray for their deceased kins. Martyrs’ Graveyards in Kashmir is symbolic as the burial ground for those who have died at the hands of government forces.
Among the dozens of visitors here at the graveyard, today is Abdul Hameed Sofi, whose 16-year-old son is among the hundreds of people laid to rest in the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar.
The 16-year-old teenager, Kaiser Hameed Sofi, was a resident of Shalimar area of Srinagar. According to sources, the victim had gone missing from his home and was later found in an unconscious state. His family has alleged that the teenager was poisoned and later tortured in custody.
The J&K police has, however, denied the allegations, saying that the teenager consumed poison which resulted in his death. The nature of the boy’s illness couldn’t be verified immediately.
For several years, the restless father, Abdul Hameed Sofi has been a regular visitor to his son’s grave. He visits the grave of his son twice or thrice a day. It was impossible for Hameed to come to terms with his son’s death. He would speak to his son’s grave and enquire about his well-being.
When a massive curfew was imposed in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35 A, it became tough for Hameed to move out of his house. He often used to tell his neighbours, “Nechuw chum kuniy zoun, su asih khouczaan tatih (My son must be scared, he is alone there).”
Today, Abdul Hameed is numb. He wiped the dust that had gathered on the gravestone since the last time he visited his son’s grave. “It is autumn, the leaves fly everywhere,” Hameed states looking around the flood of graves- a testimony of Kashmir’s bloody history.
The tombstone reads, “Police arrested Kaisar. Tortured this young soul for 36 hours. Then poisoned him. His tortured body was thrown on Shalimar Main Road. He breathed His last in Front of his Family.”
Abdul Hameed Sofi is a Pashmina dyer by profession. The family moved to a new house in Shalimar in the year 2010 and six years later when Kashmir was undergoing a massive civilian uprising in the aftermath of the killing of Burhan Wani, they lost their son.
Days later, Abdul Hameed Sofi locked the house and moved back to his ancestral home in Eid Gah which he says was merely due to the fact that he could meet his son every day as Martyrs’ Graveyard of Srinagar is located in the Eid Gah locality of Srinagar.
Tanvir Ahmad Sofi, Kaisar’s elder brother, worked at Chandigarh at the time of his brother’s death. He worked at a fashion designing company and made good money. He had to move back to Kashmir to take care of his family. “I was making great money out there. At least 60-70 thousand a month. But my parents were left alone. So I killed my dreams to be able to come back to take care of my family,” he said.
The police denied any involvement in the incident, saying that they had no record of such youth and that they don’t take interest in such cases. “It has become a routine that people blame police for everything. The youth has consumed poison for some reason and people blame police,” the Police had said.
Kaiser’s case was taken up by the Jammu Kashmir State Human Rights Commission in November 2016. The commission issued a ruling in the matter on September 10, 2017, indicating that the petitioner (government) has requested an investigation into the incident, which is being carried out by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar.
The report was not submitted to the commission by the government. Sofi filed an application with the SHRC on July 27, 2017, requesting that the panel direct the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar to submit the investigation report to the commission. Despite this, little progress has been made in the case.
The panel also ordered the SSP criminal branch to produce a report in the matter in May 2019. On the 21st of May, 2019, the commission sent another order to the Director-General of Police, Jammu Kashmir Police, inquiring about the status of the investigation.
Desperate for justice, Sofi has also tried reaching every official with his plea seeking justice for his son.
Today is the fifth anniversary of Kaiser Hameed Sofi who was among dozens of civilians killed in the year 2016. Another grave a few yards away reads, “When slaves are martyred they are relieved of all their pains.”