Abril 17, 2007

Mother’s search for her disappeared boy still on

http://www.kmsnews.org/Kashmir%20News%20Archive/11/News110407-04.htm

Srinagar, April 11 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, clad in a burkha (veil), Suraiya Akhtar, 41, looks like any other Kashmiri woman. But what makes her different from others is that she’s the mother of held Valley’s youngest boy who disappeared in Indian troops’ custody 17 years ago.

Her son Javid Ahmad Dar had just celebrated his eight birthdays when the forces’ personnel picked him up at Zero Bridge Srinagar on October 3, 1990. Though 17 years of search has proved futile, this has failed to dampen Suraiya’s resilience.

“They (the troops) snatched my beloved son. If he’s alive he would be 25-year-old, I am eager to see and hug him,” she told media men in Srinagar. “I’ll keep on searching my son, my heart, till my death.”

Married to Ghulam Hassan Dar of Ludura village in Sopore town, Suraiya said she had sent Javid to her father’s house in Rajbagh Srinagar for receiving better education in a city school. “It was Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, Javid went out to play cricket with his friends but was picked up by the troops near the Zero Bridge,” she said.

The Dars approached many Indian army officers but they could not disclose his whereabouts. “But an officer demanded one lakh rupees for his release which we could not afford,” Suraiya said.

“I have a right to know what happened to my son,” Suraiya said as she broke down. Suraiya was among relatives of many disappeared persons who staged a sit-in in Srinagar.

Posted by marga at Abril 17, 2007 1:18 AM | TrackBack
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