Blinded By Pellets, Kashmir Teen Still Scores High In School Board Exams

Sringar: Grit and determination in face of adversity -- that's what helped 16-year-old Suhaib Nazir score 72 per cent marks in his school board exams six months after he sustained pellet injuries in his left eye. He is among the 1,000-odd people, most of them teenagers, who were hit in the eye by pellets fired by security forces during the five-month unrest in Kashmir last year.

Schools too, had been shut during the unrest. But Suhaib didn't give up. "I lost my eyesight that day but I didn't stop studying," he said.

The teenager from south Kashmir's Pulwama district has undergone a series of surgeries.

He says his parents' support gave him the courage to take the exams conducted in November. "My parents told me, 'sit for the exams and don't think of the outcome'," he said.

After the results were announced, the family, which had been unsure about his future, are confident that Suhaib will be able to achieve his dreams, that nothing will stand in his way.  

"After he was hit by pellets in his eyes and head, he underwent three surgeries. Despite all this, he sat for the exams and got good marks," said his father Nazir Ahmad Parray, who is an orchardist by profession.

Suhaib's mother admits she and her son were part of a 'pro-azadi procession' when the security forces opened fire. "The boys who were getting killed and injured were like my own children. So my children and I were also participating in those protests," said Haseena Parray.

The teen says he started smiling after the results were declared. "I have forgotten that I was hit by pellets in my eyes. I decided to move on," the confident teen added.