Manzoor Ahmad Dar, a chemist in uptown Srinagar, was allegedly picked up and killed by the army in 2002. The army has denied the allegations.
A 14-year-search for her missing father came to a close for Kashmir's Bilquees Manzoor today. Coming to terms with the idea that her father is dead, she organised a prayer meeting for him -- a first in the state where 8,000 people remain missing after allegedly being picked up by security forces.
Manzoor Ahmad Dar, a chemist in uptown Srinagar, was allegedly picked up and killed by the army in 2002. The army has denied the allegations.
"The funeral prayers mark the end of my long and painful wait, but my fight for justice will continue. We want the army officer who killed my father punished," said Bilquees, 30, who has been fighting a legal battle to find out the fate of her father and his burial site.
The state police have held an army officer, Major Kishore Malhotra of 35 Rashtriya Rifles, who is now a brigadier, responsible for Dar's disappearance. He has been booked for abduction, murder and destruction of evidence but is yet to be arrested.
The Jammu and Kashmir high court, which ordered the police to arrest the mam criticised the police for its failure to do so. The Defense ministry has challenged the high court order and filed a petition in the Supreme Court. In its reply, the Jammu and Kashmir government has told top court that the police needs to take the officer in custody and question him.
This the second time the case reached Supreme Court. In 2009, the court had directed the officer to appear before Special Investigation Team for questioning.
Over the last 25 years, around 8,000 people have gone missing in Kashmir after they were allegedly picked up by security forces.
In 2011, the state human rights commission brought Kashmir's worst kept secret in the open after its probe found 2,700 unmarked graves in the valley.
Rights groups have demanded that DNA profiling of bodies so it can be matched with the relatives of the missing persons and the bodies be handed over.