SRNAGAR, July 27, 2015 : In year 2002 , the victim of unresolved Kashmir, Zaina begum was only 22 years old when her husband became a victim of enforced disappearance. For past 13 years she has been living life of a half widow and bringing up her two small kids single handedly.
Despite making all the efforts Zaina could not get whereabouts of her husband located. His disappearance still remains a painful mystery for his family. Zaina’s husband Abdul Rasheed Parra of Khaag village in north Kashmir was arrested by Indian paramilitary forces a day before Macchill Kupwara encounter happened.
Over a decade has passed however Rasheed’s where abouts still remain a mystery. According to his family members Rasheed used to run a small provisional shop in his village and would work in his farms.
“On that fateful morning he said he will visit farms. He did go but never returned. The locals who had seen him last said there were few vehicles of Indian armed forces and they whisked him away. It happened just a day before that Machill encounter. We waited but he did not come back. Then we went to Kunzar police station and filed an FIR. The police officials said they did their best to search for him but could not find anything,” Zaina Begum said.
She added, “We went to every Indian army camp in valley but no one revealed any information about my husband. After that we went to Jammu. We searched for him in almost all army camps and prison in Jammu but to no avail. Despite going from pillar to post nothing could be confirmed about him.”
For past 13 years Zaina has been taking care of her two kids as a single mother. Her kids have been very young at the time when their father went disappeared. Not only her kids she has been the any support for her father and mother in law.
Her husband’s disappearance had left her and her kids devastated yet she has been living through the miseries.
“My elder son was just 3 years old and my second son was 2-years old when their father went missing. He was the lone bread earner of our family. I have suffered immense pain and hardships in bringing my children up alone. They do not even possess haze memories of their father. Life pushed me through the hardest and pathetic circumstances but I had to live for my small kids and their aging grandparents,” Zaina said.
She added, “I used to do stitching work or sometimes work as a laborour to take care of my family and kids. I have faced immense sufferings in providing my children with education. Though we did not leave a single stone unturned in search of my husband but could not find anything. We were told that he was a victim of Macchil encounter too but Indian armed forces did not allow us to identify. We were not even allowed to identify his photograph. Destiny had this tragedy in store for me and my kids so I have to bear with it.”
According to her Abdul Rasheed’s father Ghulam Hassan Parra could not bear the separation of his son and died of depression and ailments.
She says, “My father in law would always say his son will come. He died with his eyes seeking a last glance of his son. He was depressed and at times frustrated with pain meted out to him due to Rasheed’s disappearance at the hands of Indian paramiltiary forces. His mother remembers him every single day and craves for him every moment. It is a painful deep wound within our soul which nothing in this world can ever heal.” source-FARZANA SYEDKT