Kupwara: A gunbattle in Zunreshi Kralpora here area four years back has left behind a shattered family of specially abled children, homeless and hapless.
Family of Mohammad Sadiq a laborer by profession comprise of 07 members including three specially abled little kids.
Sadiq lives along Saldej woods in Zunreshi Dev Mohallah, the last village along Line of control.
Since the gunbattle in 2014 Sadiq lives along his family in Kupwara among the dense Saldej woods.
Sadiq’s three children,Shakir Hussain 16,Safeena Bano 09, and Tawseef Ahmad 06 are blind.
The elder son Shakir is enrolled at native government school but there is no special facility for him.
Rafeeqa Begum, 35, Wife of Sadiq says that since they lost their house in an encounter they had to confine their blind kids into a single room.
“We live in a cowshed,” Rafeeqa said.
“Life has been harsh since then, my kids aren’t able to walk or eat by their own. My three kids usually tremble upon stairs. They sustaining injuries has become a norm now,” she says .
Rafeeqa says that they have migrated from Chowkibal to this place after Army erected their camp at our native place.
“We are paid only 700 Rupees as compensation yearly since then,” Sadiq say.
He said that in the encounter his elderly mother also sustained a bullet injury in her leg but never an Army official, Police or Administrator visited them nor anyone gave any sort of compensation.
“We lost all to a fierce gunfight,” he complains.
He recalls the days saying that, government forces on 08th of April 2014 early morning launched a massive Cordon and Search operation suspecting the presence of militants there.
“Barely minutes after the cordon, an encounter broke out in our native place only few meters away from my house, in the encounter army had claimed the killing of two militants,” he recalls.
Rafiq says that once he came back to place after the gunfight was over he was shocked to see his house destroyed.
He says that since he is not able to manage expenses for his injured mother she has been paralyzed since.
“The than member of legislative Assembly promised twenty thousand Rupees each to my three specially abled kids as compensation but after knocking all the doors of officials from District administration and Block Medical officer kralpora not a single penny was released,” he said.
“I have a dream to see my kids wearing school uniform leaving for school,” wife of Sadiq says.
