Srinagar:
As the all party delegation begins to try and reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, their visit comes against the backdrop of more than 100 civilians deaths in the last three months.
A commission of inquiry set up by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to investigate these killings in July is still to begin its work. The unrest in the valley has meant that depositions by witnesses has become near impossible.
Ironically, when the commission was set up to look into civilian killings, the toll stood at 17. Now as the number has climbed, the inquiry's terms of refernce will have to be changed.
The Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry, Justice Syed Bashir-ud-din says, "The date has been extended till August 15 because of the law and order problem, leading to the inaccessibility of the people."
There is skepticism over what action will be taken based on the findings of the inquiry. But now, a moving appeal for peace has come from a father whose son was shot by a police constable, while he was out playing carrom with his friends.
30-year-old Sheikh Yasir, affectionately called Raju by friends and family was shot by a policeman without any provocation. Raju was separatist leader Yasin Malik's cousin. On Friday, he was buried in Srinagar. But what struck everyone was the moving appeal for peace by Mohammed Rafiq Sheikh, Raju's ageing father. (Read: A father's tearful adieu to his son, fervent appeal for peace)
There was no sloganeering in the funeral procession. Raju's coffin was showered with almonds, his father sending off his only son like a bridegroom. And the peace has held in Raju's neighbourhood.
Inside Raju's house, a devastated father, a stoic mother and sister come to terms with their loss. "Did I raise my son so that he would be shot. What was his fault? I am aging. What was his fault. Was it that he minded his own business and took care of us," asks Raju's father with tears in his eyes.
Rafiq tells NDTV how he was able to convert the rage on street into a call for non-violence. "I stopped them so that no one else should die, no one else should suffer like I am. I do not regret that my son died," says Rafiq.
As the country's politicians extend a hand to the people in the Kashmir valley, its heartbreak, that must be healed and broken trust that must be rebuilt. The cue from reconcilliation could easily be taken from the wisdom of this old man, a father who has lost a son, who with folded hands has this appeal, "Why don't you put an end to thsi violence, so that an old father, old mother and younger sister don't lose their only support?"
A commission of inquiry set up by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to investigate these killings in July is still to begin its work. The unrest in the valley has meant that depositions by witnesses has become near impossible.
Ironically, when the commission was set up to look into civilian killings, the toll stood at 17. Now as the number has climbed, the inquiry's terms of refernce will have to be changed.
The Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry, Justice Syed Bashir-ud-din says, "The date has been extended till August 15 because of the law and order problem, leading to the inaccessibility of the people."
There is skepticism over what action will be taken based on the findings of the inquiry. But now, a moving appeal for peace has come from a father whose son was shot by a police constable, while he was out playing carrom with his friends.
30-year-old Sheikh Yasir, affectionately called Raju by friends and family was shot by a policeman without any provocation. Raju was separatist leader Yasin Malik's cousin. On Friday, he was buried in Srinagar. But what struck everyone was the moving appeal for peace by Mohammed Rafiq Sheikh, Raju's ageing father. (Read: A father's tearful adieu to his son, fervent appeal for peace)
There was no sloganeering in the funeral procession. Raju's coffin was showered with almonds, his father sending off his only son like a bridegroom. And the peace has held in Raju's neighbourhood.
Inside Raju's house, a devastated father, a stoic mother and sister come to terms with their loss. "Did I raise my son so that he would be shot. What was his fault? I am aging. What was his fault. Was it that he minded his own business and took care of us," asks Raju's father with tears in his eyes.
Rafiq tells NDTV how he was able to convert the rage on street into a call for non-violence. "I stopped them so that no one else should die, no one else should suffer like I am. I do not regret that my son died," says Rafiq.
As the country's politicians extend a hand to the people in the Kashmir valley, its heartbreak, that must be healed and broken trust that must be rebuilt. The cue from reconcilliation could easily be taken from the wisdom of this old man, a father who has lost a son, who with folded hands has this appeal, "Why don't you put an end to thsi violence, so that an old father, old mother and younger sister don't lose their only support?"
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