How The Indian Army Changed Kashmir!
Starting with myself
My name is Saadat. I was born on June, the 11th in 1988 in Srinagar. I am writing this because I really want you to know “HOW THE INDIAN ARMY CHANGED MY LIFE”.
My father, Shakil Ahmad, was an electrical engineer by profession. In the year 1995, he was surveying a site for construction of mini hydro-electric power station. On 22nd July, he asked me to accompany him to the site, the next day. I started all my preparations. When the morning came, I was ready to leave. Suddenly my cousin arrived, I told my father that I would be staying with my cousin and would accompany him next time. So my father left. I was anxiously waiting for him, but he didn’t return. I, being very young took this thing lightly, went to school the next morning. While I was in class, a relative of mine came to take me home. Still I couldn’t understand anything. When I reached home, I saw my uncle crying and telling me that my father was no more and that he was killed. I was just 7 years old, not taking things seriously.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The site that my father was surveying was located in an army camp. Whenever he and his colleagues went there, they had to deposit their ID cards. On 23rd July 1995, while they were surveying the site with all their engineering equipment, the Indian army came. They miss-took the engineering equipments as weapons and without confirming anything, they just sprayed bullets, killing my father, his engineer colleagueand a local guide. My uncle, a power expert, who is a witness to this incident, had to hide himself in ice-cold water for more than three hours to save himself. When he came out and went to their officer,he apologized for the blunder they had committed.
Their apologies were of no help. The trauma we faced was far more than what their apologies could heal. And the worst part of the incident is that all of them were given a clean chit. None of them was made accountable for the blunder they had committed. If the same incident would have taken place somewhere else in India, all of them would have been court-martialled, but no action was taken here in this case. Why this indifferent attitude towards Kashmiris?
There are thousands of such people who have died in a similar way and Indian media doesn’t seem to be getting such news and instead they convey something else so that Kashmiris are increasingly hated.
