Slain Tral militants laid to rest, thousands attend funeral prayers
Pulwama: Amid complete shutdown, three militants who were killed on Thursday in Gulshanpora area of Tral in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district were on Friday laid to rest in their native villages.
Eyewitnesses said that the funeral prayers of Zubair Ahmad and Tawseef Ahmad were jointly held in a local School ground at Chursoo, adding that they were laid to rest besides each other in a local ground after six rounds of funeral prayers amid pro-militant and pro-freedom slogans, they said.
In Laribal, Shakoor was laid to rest in local graveyard after five rounds odf funeral prayers, locals said, adding that militants also appeared in his funeral prayers and offered gun salute twice before leaving the spot.
Pertinently, three militants identified as Tawseef Ahmed and Zubair Ahmad both residents of Chursoo Awantipora and Shakoor Ahmad Parray of Laribal Tral were killed in an encounter in forests of Gulshanpora Tral on Thursday.
Tawseef a post graduate in Mathematics besides having BEd degree was also a local private school teacher and had joined Hizb on 14 May 2018.
Another militant Zubair Ahmad Bhat had joined JeM, a militant outfit on May 10, 2018.
Zubair is survived by his parents, two sisters and a brother Ishfaq Ahmed. He was the youngest one. His father Bashir Ahmed Bhat is physically challenged and his brother Ishaq Ahmed manages the family by working in a nearby band saw mill in Chursoo.
Before joining militancy, Zubair had passed his class 10th and was studying in senior secondary school.
The third slain militant Shakoor Ahmad Parray had joined militancy on October 2, 2017. He was the cousin brother of slain militant Ishaq Parray, a resident of Laribal, commonly known as ‘Newton’.
Shakoor’s another cousin, Tariq Parry was also a militant and was killed in his native area, a decade ago.
Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed in Awantipora and Tral areas of Pulwama district to mourn the deaths.
All the shops and business establishments remained closed in the areas while as the traffic was also thin on roads.
Pertinently, as the slain militants were being laid to rest, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in his telephonic address to the mourners said that authorities are using an imperialistic attitude in Jammu and Kashmir to crush the movement of right to self-determination.
“Since 1947 our nation has rendered unparalleled sacrifices, but India has not been able to suppress our emotions with this brutality,” he said, paying tributes to slain militants.
“Our youth lay their lives and reiterate their pledge to take the ongoing movement to its logical end. We will never allow any body to barter with the precious blood of martyrs,” he said, adding that “we need to be aware of this and we are duty bound to safe guard their sacrifices and should desist from such activities which prove harmful for our movement,” he told the mourners.
Jahangeer Ganaie
