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When mourning a death brings questions to life

When mourning a death brings questions to life

Author: Muzamil Jaleel
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 30, 2003

No one in family knew this student's double-life, Geelani only one at his funeral

Srinagar, August 29: On the surface, this could be a typical Srinagar story: the body of a militant being returned home. But this one isn't.

A tiny street deep inside downtown Srinagar is packed with people. Sitting on pavements, men speak in whispers. Occasionally, the wails of women float out from a shabby mud house in the corner.

This is the house where a quiet computer engineering student, Ishtiyaq Ahmad Matta, lived his 26 years of life until yesterday when he became one of the few local ''fidayeens'' shocking the entire security establishment and his friends and family.

For, when his charred remains returned home, there were no celebrations of his ''martyrdom,'' his traumatised family said they had no idea what he was up to, a disturbing indication that local militancy may be acquiring a lethal edge.

All who knew him said there was nothing that marked Matta out except ''the love for his cow.'' Son of a driver, he was a silent young man who would leave his home at 9.30 every morning for college and later spend the afternoon taking his cow out for grazing.

On August 27, the day Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his deputy L K Advani landed in Kashmir to attend the high-profile inter state chief ministers council, Matta didn't return home.

The next day, the police took out his remains from the debris of a multi-storey office complex in the city centre, destroyed in a night-long gun battle in which five persons were killed including militant turned MLA Javaid Shah.

''We don't believe he could be a militant. He was a docile boy, who would never raise his voice,'' said Shakeel Ahmad Baba who runs a grocery right outside Matta's house and is also his cousin. ''After returning home from college, he would be busy with his cow. He had hardly any friends in the neighbourhood.''

Matta's father, Ghulam Qadir, had dreamt of changing the fortunes of his family by sending all three sons to school. ''I was not educated and ended up being a driver. But I wanted my children to be educated and prosperous. He was bright and was soon going to graduate. Now everything is over for me,'' he said. ''I am shocked. I don't think he can ever be a militant. I don't know what has happened.''

Matta's mother has lost her voice and can hardly speak. Shell-shocked by the news of her son's death, she too can't believe that the fidayeen who had sneaked through several security cordons to wreak havoc for 12 long hours in the heart of the city while New Delhi's top brass were in town, could be her son.

After several interviews with friends and relatives, bits and pieces of the story can be put together. A religious-minded man, Matta had been on a fast for the last two days. He had gifted his wrist-watch to his younger brother and had also talked to him about taking care of the family without disclosing anything about his mission or his involvement in militancy.

On the day of the attack, he asked his mother to pay Rs 50 to a neighbourhood shopkeeper as he owed him the money.

Later in the day, he had called at around 4.30 pm (two hours before the attack) and told his brother that he would not return home for the night.

It was only when the encounter ended that his family came to know about his death only after a mysterious call. ''Somebody called the house saying that Ishtiyaq has been killed in the encounter near Exchange (BSNL office),'' a neighbour said. Who was the caller, nobody knows.

In fact, Matta's involvement in militancy has been so secretive that nobody, not even his family had an idea. And how did he come in touch with the militants and get motivated to a such level to become a fidayeen is a question nobody has the answer to.

Matta is not the first local fidayeen-there have been a few but normally, they are Pakistanis-but the way he lived a normal life right till his death has raised many questions.

The security agencies here are wary that this might be a new trend and a hint towards renewed militancy after a relative calm that had seen tourists flocking the Valley.

The fact that a Kashmiri fidayeen was responsible for wreaking havoc during Vajpayee's trip has its political ramifications as well. It has returned the separatist hawks back to the limelight and weakened the Hurriyat led by Abbas Ansari making it more difficult for both the Centre and the state to rope in the conglomerate in any dialogue process.
 


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