Kashmir family continues demand for holding son's funeral despite police case, ban on handing over militants bodies to kin
- 3 years ago
The family of a teenager from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district who was killed in an encounter in the city outskirts here continued to seek his body even as the authorities said that they can't hand over the bodies of militants to their kin for funeral.
The family made a fresh appeal here and even said that they would approach the court for their son's body while rejecting police claim that he was a militant. They said that the police should have arrested him instead of killing him in a "staged gun battle."
Mushtaq Wani, father of 16-year-old Athar Mushtaq, who was killed along with two others in an encounter in Srinagar’s Lawaypora in December said he would continue to demand his son's body till his last breath.
"We will continue to raise our voice until authorities return my son's body for respectable burial," Wani said. "I assure the authorities that burial would be held without having a gathering," he said
The family has been persistent in its demand and said they had already spoken to lawyers to file a case for claiming the body.
"We are awaiting some positive response from the authorities about our demand. If they won't listen to us, we will be forced to approach the judiciary," said Muhammad Shafi, Athar's uncle.
The family's response came a day after media reports that the three family members of the slain youth are among seven people booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the police for organising a protest.
The family members said that they also heard the reports that the slain teenagers father Mushtaq and his two uncles were booked. The reports said that they were booked for “organizing illegal procession under criminal conspiracy and were abetting anti-national elements”.
Mushtaq said that they have however not been informed by the police about the FIR.
"The FIR or any case won't break our resolve for our genuine demand," he said.
According to him, the family had organised a peaceful protest after Friday prayers to demand the body of the 11-th class student.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, South Kashmir, Atul Kumar, said that they can't hand over the body of militants to their kin in line with a fresh government to contain anti-India protests.
"It's strictly not allowed to hand over the body of militants to family. The policy was devised by higher ups and we are only implementing it on the ground," he said.
As per police Athar was an over ground worker of the militants and not a categorized militant.
On Sunday, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti took to Twitter to express her surprise over the police move of registering FIR against the youth's family.
“After losing his son in an alleged fake encounter, Athar Mushtaq’s father has been slapped with an FIR for demanding his body. His crime was to stage a peaceful protest. The inhabitants of Naya Kashmir can’t even question a callous admin & have been reduced to living corpses,” she said.
The family made a fresh appeal here and even said that they would approach the court for their son's body while rejecting police claim that he was a militant. They said that the police should have arrested him instead of killing him in a "staged gun battle."
Mushtaq Wani, father of 16-year-old Athar Mushtaq, who was killed along with two others in an encounter in Srinagar’s Lawaypora in December said he would continue to demand his son's body till his last breath.
"We will continue to raise our voice until authorities return my son's body for respectable burial," Wani said. "I assure the authorities that burial would be held without having a gathering," he said
The family has been persistent in its demand and said they had already spoken to lawyers to file a case for claiming the body.
"We are awaiting some positive response from the authorities about our demand. If they won't listen to us, we will be forced to approach the judiciary," said Muhammad Shafi, Athar's uncle.
The family's response came a day after media reports that the three family members of the slain youth are among seven people booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the police for organising a protest.
The family members said that they also heard the reports that the slain teenagers father Mushtaq and his two uncles were booked. The reports said that they were booked for “organizing illegal procession under criminal conspiracy and were abetting anti-national elements”.
Mushtaq said that they have however not been informed by the police about the FIR.
"The FIR or any case won't break our resolve for our genuine demand," he said.
According to him, the family had organised a peaceful protest after Friday prayers to demand the body of the 11-th class student.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, South Kashmir, Atul Kumar, said that they can't hand over the body of militants to their kin in line with a fresh government to contain anti-India protests.
"It's strictly not allowed to hand over the body of militants to family. The policy was devised by higher ups and we are only implementing it on the ground," he said.
As per police Athar was an over ground worker of the militants and not a categorized militant.
On Sunday, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti took to Twitter to express her surprise over the police move of registering FIR against the youth's family.
“After losing his son in an alleged fake encounter, Athar Mushtaq’s father has been slapped with an FIR for demanding his body. His crime was to stage a peaceful protest. The inhabitants of Naya Kashmir can’t even question a callous admin & have been reduced to living corpses,” she said.