Ex-militant’s toddler succumbs to injuries; outrage spreads in the Valley
Srinagar: The death of an ex-militant’s 3-year-old son in the volatile town of Sopore has caused outrage across the Valley and beyond.
The victim Burhan Bashir was in the lap of his father Bashir Ahmed Butt when two motorcycle-borne gunmen hurled a hand grenade towards them outside their house in Sagipora area on the peripheries of the town, 50-km northwest of capital Srinagar.
The grenade didn’t explode and Butt began running for his life, but the assailants opened indiscriminate fire at the father-son duo, critically injuring both of them, witnesses had said. While 38-year-old Butt died on his way to the hospital, his son was admitted to Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS).
Doctors said that a bullet had pierced through his abdomen and they performed a surgery on him overnight. But little Burhan died at 7 am on Saturday, leaving his mother inconsolable.
(Photo: H U Naqash)
A report from Sopore said that hundreds of people attended Burhan’s funeral in the afternoon. His mortal remains were carried from his home to a local cemetery in a procession and, as he was laid to rest next to his father, many mourners started crying. Earlier moving scenes could be witnessed at his home when Burhan’s corpse arrived in an ambulance from Srinagar.
Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, deeply mourned Burhan’s killing by ‘unidentified gunmen’. Condemning the dastardly act, he said his heart goes out to the “unfortunate mother of the young child, for whom the passing away of her son in such inhuman circumstances will be an earth-shattering experience.”
Hundreds attended the toddler's funeral (Photo: H U Naqash)
As the word spread, many people took to the social networking sites to protest the gruesome murder of the minor boy. Some of them sought to equate the incident with the tragic death of Aylan Kurdi, a 3-year-old boy from war-torn Syria who drowned as his family tried to flee to Europe recently.
“How sad 3-year-old kid shot at last evening along with his father in Sopore succumbs to injuries. What was his fault? Will someone show outrage?” asked Shuja’at Bukhari, editor of Rising Kashmir newspaper in a post on Facebook.
Another well-known journalist Shuja-ul-Haq also gave voice to his view on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
#Aylan was swept away by mean waters of the sea, in Kashmir 3 year old burhan paid for our collective sins which hv kept this conflict alive
— Shuja-ul-Haq (@ShujaUH) September 19, 2015
Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has called for one-day shutdown in the State on Sunday to protest the killings of father-son duo. “The killing of 3-year-old Burhan is barbaric. It has shaken conscience of every human being,” he said.
While the Chief Minister said ‘unidentified gunmen’ targeted the father-son duo, police has blamed the incident on separatist militants.
None of the militant outfits active in Kashmir have, so far, owned responsibility for the act, however. Police also said that Butt himself was a militant associated with a pro-Pakistan outfit but had quit militancy after serving a jail term.
