Tawseef’s last words: ‘Traish! Mojay! Shopian, Sep 19: Moments before he fell to CRPF bullets on September 7 here, Tawseef Ahmad Bhat discussed with his friends the preparations about shifting his business from his locality to main market in the town. He had personally monitored the speedy renovation works at his new address of trade. “He left the shop on motorcycle, saying he would be back soon,” said one of Tawseef’s friends from Baba Mohalla here. Tawseef was on way to drop his childhood friend Adil at Degree College near the CRPF camp at Gagran when they were stopped by the paramilitary forces and asked to park the vehicle on roadside. The duo followed the CRPF diktat. But the sounds of gunshots forced them to run for safety, few minutes later. Little did Tawseef know that the worst had started to unfold for him and it was his last run. Scared, Tawseef and Adil had run into a street near the camp, and while on the move a frightened Tawseef had shouted at Adil: “I have been hit by a bullet and I am bleeding”. Adil, who is recovering from his injury at his home here, said, moments later he felt something wet near his abdomen and while running his hand there he realized he too had received a bullet injury. For a moment Adil said his mind stopped working and all he could ask Tawseef was to lay flat on the ground till some help arrives. However a frightened Tawseef, who had by then started bleeding profusely, and with a fear of losing the all important battle of life, had responded: “What will happen now; will we survive?” “Remain quiet and don’t get up” Adil had advised his friend, again. For next 30 minutes, the two friends laying flat on the ground, one after another, and bleeding, were only wishing for the dreadful moments to pass by. “But the worst happened when the CRPF men came out of the camp and started trampling us. They kicked us,” Adil said. By the time Tawseef was shifted to local hospital, his condition had deteriorated. “His eyes were half closed and he was smashing the bed with his fists, in pain,” said Tawseef’s cousin, Abid Ahmad. “Traish! (water), Mojay! (mother)” were the two words Tawseef was repeating till he breathed his last, said Abid. His friends in the locality remember Tawseef as a shy guy who had changed completely after his detention under the Public Safety Act for four months, though all charges against him were quashed by the court later. Four persons were killed and one person injured in the firing by the CRPF near the Gagren camp on September 7. Police later said three of the four slain persons were civilians and another “unidentified” person was a Lashkar-e-Toiaba Militant.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 04:26:37 +0000