by: sajid Maqbool Raina
Hajra is living with the pain of losing her four sons to insurgency in Kashmir. The last 21 years of turmoil in Kashmir has wiped off all her happiness and peace. Her life has been transformed into an endless and painful struggle.
Hajra Begum, an aged woman living in Onagam Bandipora, is a mother of six sons with no daughter. However, her sons became more a source of her lifelong pain than her support in old age.
“We were bakers and lived happily until my son, Rafiq Ahmad was killed by security forces in 1996. Rafiq was a militant,” says 78 years old Hajra.
Unable to bear the killing of his brother, Hajra’s eldest son, Nazir Ahmad decided to take revenge. He went to receive arms training across the border and became a militant.
Subsequently, the family started being harassed by security forces who picked up Hajra’s another son Bashir Ahmad.
“He was picked up from his baker shop by 14 RR to ask him the whereabout of his brother,” reveals Hajra.
After Bashir’s arrest the family tried to trace him. They went to the nearby army camp where initially they agreed to make them meet him but later told them that Bashir has escaped. However Hajra maintains that Bashir ‘disappeared’ in custody. She even fears he may have been killed.
Her fears are not totally baseless. Hajra says, “Some tribesmen later informed me that a body was burnt to ashes in the nearby forests immediately after the arrest of my son.” She suspects it could have been him.
Her fears are not totally baseless. Hajra says, “Some tribesmen later informed me that a body was burnt to ashes in the nearby forests immediately after the arrest of my son.” She suspects it could have been him.
Nazir was also the killed in an encounter with Army two years after the custodial disappearance of his brother, Bashir.
The tragedy did not end here. Hajra’s another son, Ajaz took up arms and was also killed some ten years ago.
Except for Rafiq Ahmad, all three sons of Hajra were married. “After the tragedies, their wives and children left home forever,” reveals Hajra.
Ironically, the other two sons of Hajra also left her to alone to live in their separate homes. Four years back Hajra also lost her husband who died of heart attack.
“The tremendous pains and tragedy of our life was too much for him to bear. He was shocked by it,” says Hajra.
Today Hajra lives alone with none to care for her. In absence of an earning hand, Hajra is supported by Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) of which she is a member.
“After my son went missing I joined the association to trace him. It is APDP who gives me some money for food and medicines,” informs Hajra.
About author Sajid maqbool Raina is pursuing Journalism from Baramulla Degree College.[email protected]
