Srinagar, June 11, 2014: For three long months, Farooq Ahmad Malla, 22, remained tucked inside two woolen blankets in his room at Chak-i-Hakbara Sonawar in Bandipore occasionally whispering to his mother for water and medicines.
On March 17, 2014 , 22 years old Farooq Ahmad Malla was hit by pellets fired by Indian armed forces in both his eyes outside his home, taking away his sight.
Now after months of the incident, her mother continues to takes Farooq to bathroom. “It just shatters me down from inside,” Farooq says. “Not that I can’t see, but because my mother has to take me to bathroom.”
It is after three months that Farooq is able to talk properly. “When I talk, I think I am in a tunnel where there is no light,” he says.
“No matter how much I try, I don’t get out of this tunnel. It has become my world now... a lightless life.”
Farooq was taken to Amritsar two times for treatment but there are no signs of recovery even as the family members say they have no money left for further treatment.
“Last time, we sold our cow,” Farooq’s mother, Hajira, says. “We have nothing left with which we can bear the cost of his treatment.”
Besides Farooq, three other boys were injured in pellet firing in the town that week. While the rest of three are showing signs of recovery and have begun to see, Farooq remains worst affected.
Ishfaq Ahmad Parray, who was also hit in the eyes, was able to play a game of cricket in his home ground last week.
“I very much judge the ball,” Ishfaq says. “Allah gave me back my light.”
Ishfaq’s words are a hope for Farooq who believes that one day he will be able to see.
“All I have to believe in is Allah,” he says. “He gave me light, He took it away and He will give it back to me.”
But Farooq’s father, Ghulam Muhammad, is a man who counts basics. “Whatever I had, I put in,” he says. “I have nothing left now.”