Kashmir violence: In her Bijbehara bastion, Death No. 31 sparks anger

“People were shouting slogans against Mehbooba Mufti, a relative of her family who is an Imam wasn’t allowed to lead Amir’s funeral prayers,’’ said local resident Imtiyaz Ahmad. He said that Mehbooba Mufti had built her political career visiting funerals of militants and protestors but she could not visit her ancestral home today. “That shows how angry people here are,’’ he said.

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When contacted, current PDP legislator of Bijbehara and the seniormost minister in Mehbooba Mufti’s cabinet, Abdul Rehman Veeri, told The Indian Express that “it was unfortunate and an investigation (into Amir’s killing) is going on”.

Asked about the public anger against the ruling party and Mehbooba Mufti herself, he declined comment. All he said was: “That is worrying.”

In a clear indication that no one in the security establishment is taking any chances given the volatility on the street, a senior official said that security has been strengthened at Dara Shikoh park, where PDP patriarch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed lies buried.

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A PDP leader from South Kashmir and a close aide of Mehbooba Mufti told The Indian Express that the party is indeed rattled. “These are the same people who voted for us for three consecutive elections. PDP never lost Bijbehara. These are the same people who are calling us names today, who have targeted the Chief Minister herself. We don’t have any answers”.

Around midnight on Monday, while Amir, in a critical state, awaited another surgery in the Intensive Care Unit at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital and calls were going out on phone and social media seeking B-negative blood for him, his brother Adil and uncle Syed stood at the blood bank.

A young man walked in and offered to donate blood but at 3 am Amir died.

For Amir family, dependent on a meagre income from traditional silver-thread embroidery work, Amir was the big hope — he was the first to go to college and had recently been accepted to a Master’s in Commerce programme.

Eyewitnesses said that police had picked up a few young protesters in Zurpora across the Jhelum river. Amir was standing with another group of protesters on the other bank. “When they saw the police arresting the youngsters, Amir and his friends started shouting at the policemen. Suddenly police fired and Amir was hit,’’ Amir’s uncle Syed said.

“We took him to the hospital (in Bijbehara). He was losing blood. The doctor asked us to rush him to Srinagar. We found an ambulance and as soon as we were to leave, a police and CRPF party came. They started hitting the ambulance with rifle butts. Then they got inside and beat us up. The driver of the ambulance fled, It was only after half an hour that the police left and we drove it to the hospital in Srinagar but it was too late, Amir had lost a lot of blood,’’ Syed said.

When contacted, Senior Superintendent of Police, Anantnag, Abdul Jabbar declined to comment saying that the police version would be released by the Zonal Police headquarters in Srinagar. When the police press release came, it made no mention of Amir.