South Asia Human Rights Journalist Association

Srinagar, May 1, 2014: On April 30 Wednesday morning, Bashir, a burly young man known to many by nickname Bashir Owais, was repairing frontal veranda of his house. Sisters of Bashir Ahmad Bhat was killed by the bulletes of Indian paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force at Nawa Kadal in Srinagar lost their brother halfway when they were waiting to get married on 25th  of this month. He was killed by force personnel a few meters away from his two-storey house on Wednesday evening. The four bullets of Indian paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF)  that bore through and killed 26-year-old Bashir Ahmad Bhat at Nawa Kadal in Srinagar on April 30 evening, in reality, pierced many hearts: leaving a mother frozen in horror, two soon-to-be-wedded sisters grief-stricken, an elder brother up-in-arms and father questioning.
He had already bought few bags of cement and tiles. The young man was set to revamp family’s years-old porch which had turned rugged over the years.  “All day long, he was cementing tiles to the veranda,” his brother, Farooq Ahmad Bhat, a wood-carver, tells Srinagar based Greater Kashmir, at their home in Gratbal, Nawa Kadal.
“He had planned to finish it as early as possible. He was working at a speed faster than any professional mason.”
At around 4:30 pm IST, Bashir’s four-year-old cousin visited their home. It was her birthday, Farooq says. And knowing it, Bashir stopped working and took along the cousin to market and bought candies for her as birthday gift. Then, Bashir took a bath and wore a cream-color tracksuit and sports shoes.
“After a day’s work, he wanted to take a walk. And I saw him leaving the gate at around 6 pm,” Farooq says. “I never saw him alive again.” His thighs and chest, Farooq says, were riddled with bullets when he saw him in a hospital. “I saw him in the theater, dead. My hope of life was lost.”
Bashir, according to his acquaintances, was killed by paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) near his residence. “We heard a one-ton vehicle of CRPF came rushing down the bridge and shot Bashir in indiscriminate firing. Bashir was walking alongside the road,” Farooq says. “We also heard that it was an officer who opened fire.”
Farooq adds, “Why was my brother killed? Just because he was taking a walk after a day’s labor? They killed an innocent man in cold blood.” Last time Muhammad Shafi, Bashir’s father, saw his son was the day before. “I didn’t see him in the entire day as he was busy working on the porch,” he says.
“I left home early morning and went to meet my friends at Eidgah. On my way back, I heard Bashir has been martyred. But I didn’t believe until I reached home and saw sky had fallen on us.” “Let them prove that my son snatched the rifle,” Shafi says. “Police just spread lies. And they did it after my son’s cold-blooded murder.”
Farooq says after Bashir Ahmad Bhat was shot, his life could have been saved if he was allowed by forces to be taken to a hospital. “Even after they pumped four bullets in him, they didn’t allow anyone to take him to the hospital,” he says. “My brother was lying there for half an hour, till last drop of his blood oozed out.” Farooq says few youth from the locality had taken Bashir to Soura Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Srinagar. “But he had succumbed near Aali Masjid,” he says. “His last words were, ‘Please take me to my mother’.”
Most of all what Bashir, and other family members, had been waiting for long was forthcoming marriage ceremony of his two sisters, Bilques Fatima and Tasleema Bano. The wedding was to take place on May 24 and 25.
Now, Bilques and Tasleema along with their mother Rafeeqa mourn at Bashir’s death in a far corner of a room where streams of sunlight form a different pattern. For them, Bashir was their “soul of being.”
“After completing the veranda work, Bashir had decided to hire a painter to color two of our rooms since the wedding was near,” Farooq says.
Their walls, he says, are now colored with grief. “Everything was ready for the wedding,” Muhammad Shafi says. “Now tell me for heaven’s sake, can such a person, who works like a machine to see his sisters wedded, snatch a rifle from a trooper?”
On Wednesday afternoon, according to Farooq, a party of paramilitary forces knocked at their gate, asking for plates and a knife. Bashir opened the gate and gave them cucumbers, few plates and spice from a kitchen pot, he says. “Such was his generosity,” Farooq says. 
Nearly 18 years ago, Bashir dropped out of school in 8th standard and set out to earn livelihood.
He worked as a Pashmina shawl weaver for long but soon felt dejected with the output. Then he became a laborer, working in peoples’ farmlands to save some money.
Till yesterday, he worked as a mason. “He was doing well and he had begun to pick up,” Farooq says. Not anymore. In his locality, Bashir was known as a “man of wisdom and friendship.” “He was always helpful to his neighbors,” said Firdous Shah, his neighbor. Bashir’s last words to Shah, “I am going to take a walk” still echoes in his ears. “He was friendly to everyone in the locality,” Shah says. “We lost a jewel.” Mostly focusing on work, he says, Bashir would sometimes play street cricket.
In the room where Muhammad Shafi and Farooq sat, a large frame containing picture of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq hung on a wall, with inset of philosopher-poet Dr Sir Muhammad Iqbal (RA).
“Allah is witness to my son’s killing,” Shafi, who earns livelihood by sewing bedding material, says. “My son is buried in martyrs’ graveyard.”
Over and over again, the family breaks down – in tears and in wails.
“It is like he has gone on work and we all are waiting for him,” Shafi says, with damp eyes. 
Over and over, Bilques, Tasleema and their mother cry in a room where few neighbors console them.
“Where did you go my son?” Rafeeqa weeps. “Come, I will apply hinna on your hands before you leave us. Come, my son...”
A stack of Bashir’s photographs lies on one of the shelves of his room from where neighbors and relatives pick his pictures for remembrance. In one of his pictures, Bashir is standing on a mountain peak against an endless sky.
Bashir Ahmad Bhat’s body was laid to rest at Martyrs’ graveyard in Eidgah amid protests and pro-freedom slogans on late Wednesday night.
The father of the deceased Muhammad Shafi Bhat, a Pashmina weaver, of Gratbal, Nawakadal said his son was busy in making the arrangements for the marriage ceremony of his sisters which is scheduled to be held later this month. “I have lost everything. How can I marry my daughters on the scheduled date as he left us early,” said Shafi.
He said that Bashir had many skills and was a noble human being. “Currently, he was working as a mason to feed his family,” said Shafi adding “He was a hardworking person.”  
“Even if Omar Abdullah provides me Rs 10 crores, tell me, what will I do with that money? Would I buy a house or deposit it in the bank. Nothing, my hands have been cut and I am lost now,” said Shafi.
“His memories will haunt me till I die,” he added.  “He was busy making the veranda for the entire day on Wednesday. After 4:00pm, he left home and was killed in cold blood,” said Bashir’s cousin.
Bashir’s mother Rafiqa said, “He was not a stone pelter.”
She along with her two daughters were sitting in a tent outside their house. His sisters were inconsolable and did not utter a word.
“It seems polls were held to kill our beloved brother,” said a cousin of the deceased. Witnesses while recalling Wednesday’s incident said, “There was a minor stone pelting at the end of polling but the forces directly fired upon the people leading to Bashir’s death. They were angry about the police statement which stated the youth tried to snatch the weapon of forces. He was on the main road and was hit with three bullets.  One had ripped his abdomen which made him to die.” The locals demanded stern punishment for the erring personnel.
“I am not interested in the win of any party. ”Shall pursue my son’s case till justice is done: Bashir’s father.
Challenging police to prove that his son was involved in stone pelting at anytime, anywhere, Mohammad Shafi Bhat father of Bashir Ahmad on April 30 evening said he wants justice and not any blood money from the government.
Talking to KNS, father of victim said his son’s killing has shattered the entire family but he will muster courage to pursue his case till the culprits are brought to justice. “My son who was preparing for the marriage of his two sisters, was killed in a cold blooded murder in the evening,” Bhat said in a feeble tone.
Bhat said his son was completely innocent and his antecedents can be verified from the locals who know him in the area. “You can ask about his background from anyone you like here and if it is proved that he was involved in stone pelting or in any kind of subversive activities, then I will never ask for anything,” Bhat claimed.
Bashir’s father said that his deceased son was completely busy with Pashmina weaving trade and had no time to roam here and there. “From work he would straightway come to his home and whenever he would go anywhere, he would ask the permission from his family,” he said, while pledging to pursue his son’s case till the security force personnel responsible for his killing are brought to justice.
Mohammad Shafi Bhat said he wants justice and not blood money from the government. “My son who was preparing for the marriage of his two sisters, was killed in a cold blood,” he said as tears rolled from his eyes.  Bhat said his son was innocent and his antecedents can be verified from the locals who knew him.  Bashir’s father said that his deceased son was completely busy with Pashmina weaving trade and had no time to roam here and there. “From work he would straightway come to his home and whenever he would go anywhere, he would ask the permission from his family,” he said, while pledging to pursue his son’s case till armed forces responsible for his killing are brought to justice.