Kashmir rebel’s policeman father ‘thanks Allah for his son’s martyrdom’
The policeman father of the slain Kashmir rebel, who died in a gunfight with government forces, says his son was on a ‘just path’ and is ‘proud’ of him.
Abid Khan, the Hizbul Mujahideen district commander for Pulwama, died in a brief gun battle in Handoora village on Tuesday. An army colonel was among the dead in the gunfight that ended in less than an hour.
Abid’s family, including his father, Jalal-ul-Din Khan, who is a Head Constable in Jammu and Kashmir police, have no regrets about their son death in front of their eyes as they are confident that he was on ‘righteous path’. Not all are chosen for martyrdom, the policeman father says.
Abid, who was described as face of militancy in southern Tral region by locals and a ‘hardcore’ militant by forces, left his house on September 2012 after offering Asr (late-noon) prayers. “That was Friday. Earlier he offered Jumah prayers at Dar-ul-Uloom Noorpora Tral and then Asr at a local mosque. He also gave Azaan (call for prayer) in the mosque. After offering prayers, my dad and he came to house and in a while, my brother left the home but he didn’t say where exactly he was going,” recalls Owais Khan, the brother of slain Hizb Commander.
That day he went missing. He had not informed anyone from his family about the decision of taking up arms. A close relative of Abid says on the condition of anonymity that his family particularly his maternal uncle, Manzoor Ahmad, started searches for him. “They moved from one village to another enquiring about Abid,” he said.
The relative of slain Hizb commander says Manzoor, even announced that ‘whosoever gave information about his whereabouts will be rewarded with money from selling his land’.
Perhaps, Abid was watching all these developments. “He sent a letter to dad. In the letter, he mentioned that he has picked up arms for the implementation of Shariah and don’t search as I have adopted the path of Jihad-e-Feesabeelillah’,” Owais says. “He also said that don’t try to search me as I won’t leave this path.”
The revelations post-Abid’s death in bloody encounter in which an army colonel, a Special Operation Group (SOG) policeman also died debunks many theories vis-à-vis Kashmir militancy.
Though no one can deny the fact that many youth post-2010 mass uprising adopted the militant path after continuous harassment of forces, but there are those boys as well who were never picked up by forces but still joined militant outfits.
The relatives of Abid say he was never detained by police. “His fight was against un-Islamic institutions and in that fight, he achieved martyrdom,” Owais, his brother, says. “He was deeply religious.”
The father of Abid, says that he has no ‘regrets’ about his son joining militancy and then getting killed in a gunfight. “Allah doesn’t choose everyone for this mission. He was from Allah and he returned to Allah,” Jalal-ud-Din Khan says.
“He was on righteous path. I thank Allah for his martyrdom. He didn’t betray me as I he died in his house and I am satisfied because had the encounter taken place in some other house, there would have been damage (to that particular house),” he says.
Abid was a second year student when he left his house. He was pursuing Bachelors of Arts (BA) from Government Degree College Tral. He was a bright student, who had won several awards since childhood, his brother, Owais says.
