KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
After an good attendance at his funeral prayers, authorities in Pulwama permitted a select group of mourners to lower the slain boy in his Shaheed Mazar grave, reports said. The funeral prayers of Basit Mukhtar were offered at the Murran Chowk industrial estate soon after the Friday prayers were over. Those who accompanied his coffin included the family friends and the relatives.
Reports from Pulwama said that the entire gathering at the funeral prayers wanted to accompany the coffin to the graveyard which the authorities disallowed. They finally permitted a select group for the last rites, reports added.
The death of Choutu has been the latest tragedy in the Pulwama family that has been struggling for a respectful survival for many years now.
Basit Mukhtar who was hit by a tear-smoke shell in his head on September 5, succumbed to his injuries during wee hours on Friday. A resident of Dalipora in Pulwama locality, Basit is being laid to rest after Friday prayers. In which circumstances did he receive the shell was not immediately known.
Reports from the town said that the family was in crisis ever since their father was arrested. Mukhtar Ahmad Hafiz was in jail for almost two years, when one day, he reported sick and was rushed to SMHS. He died there leaving behind a young widow and two orphans.
Mukhtar was running a tea stall at the Muran Chowk.
With father not around, his two sons started taking care of the stall. They would study and also manage the tea stall. Tragically the elder of the two orphans was putting up with his grand-parents in Dolipora as the younger one would live with his widowed mother. Their mother had gone back to her parents’ home in Washibug. The two brothers would normally meet at work in Murran Chowk where their tea stall was.
Basit was much younger than he was earlier reported. Student of Radiant Educational Institute, Basit was enrolled in class seventh only. That makes him a minor.
Official sources said that the family and the locality wanted to lay Basit to rest quite early but most of the town decided against it. They finally offered him prayers in the industrial estate grounds following which he was laid to rest in the local martyrs cemetery.
Pulwama has been under curfew restrictions since Eid. Top officials said the funeral remained tense but peaceful.
(Sheikh Hilal contributed to this news story)
