Page 32 - Tehelka Issue 13 - July 15, 2018

Kashmir’s lost boys

Time and again, women in Kashmir have always been subject to immense suffering due to
insurgency and also the ongoing conflict disrupting many lives. Some hearts of women swell
with pride about their son’s joining insurgency, while some still mourn and struggle to cope
up with the reality of their sons, reports safina nabi

his is unfortunate that the militant ranks in Kashmir valley. who feel the pain of their separa-
how women are at the As the government forces continue tion. Among these militant mothers,
receiving end of pro- with the anti-militant operations, some are swollen with pride, about
tracted subjugation by more local youth continue to join their son’s decision while some are
T the conflict and insur- the militant ranks as families con- not able to find out the reason why
gency in the state of Jammu and tinue to mourn the deaths of young their son took up the violent path
Kashmir, and is direct or indirect ones. where the only end is death.
victims of its fallout. Women have Most of the active militants are
lost their loved ones-fathers, moth- highly educated and belong to The brave hearts
ers, husbands, brothers and sons, well-off families. When they leave On June 3, 2018, Tehelka member
some of whom were killed in the homes, they take nothing with along with a local went to Adil Ah-
encounter and some never re- them, except for a pair of clothes mad Sheikh’s home. Adil’s brother
turned to the home. and sleepers. Nayeem Ahmad Sheikh was a
Since the summer unrest of 2010, As the youngsters leave behind militant. Nayeem was killed dur-
around 500 local youth have joined their families, it is their mothers ing a gunfight with the government
forces. By the time Nayeem was
photos: faisal khan killed, Adil had already made
up his mind to join the militant
ranks. Adil left home only after
20 days of Nayeem’s killing and
was active for three years and 8
months.
“He told us he too wants to
join the ranks. We would re-
peatedly plead with him not to
take any such step. I already had
lost one son,” explained Adil’s
mother
One evening, Adil left home
and never returned. When he
came to meet his parents, after
three months, he had joined the
militant ranks and came to visit
them along with his associates.
Adil was active for more than
three years. He would often
come home to meet his family

• Mourning moms Families in Kashmir
continue to mourn the deaths of their
young ones in anti-militant drive

tehelka / 15 july 2018 32 www.tehelka.com

32-33 Safina Nabi.indd 2 03/07/18 4:49 PM