by Bilal Bahadur
Srinagar
Several rounds of funeral prayers were offered to the three slain militants killed in a day-long gunfight with the government forces in Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Reports said that thousands of people including women and children attended the funeral prayers of slain militants in Chursoo and Laribal villages of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district amid pro-freedom sloganeering.
They said that four rounds of funeral prayers were held for Touseef Ahmad Thoker and Zubair Ahmed Bhat at Chursoo and three rounds of funeral prayers were held for Shakoor Ahmad Parray at Laribal.
One of the slain militants, Tawseef Ahmad Thokar had done masters in mathematics, and before joining the militancy on May 14, 2018, he was working as a teacher at high school in Awantipora.
His father Ghulam Mohi-ud-deen Thoker is a retired headmaster, who was arrested under Public Safety Act (PSA) in 2016 when Kashmir remained shut for six months after the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani. Tawseef is survived by two brothers, two sisters, and parents. He was the second elder son.
Another militant Zubair Ahmad Bhat had also joined a militant group JeM outfit. He joined militancy on May 10, 2018.
Zubair is survived by his parents, two sisters and a brother Ishfaq Ahmed. Zubair was the youngest one. His father Bashir Ahmed Bhat is handicapped and his brother Ishaq Ahmed runs the family by working in a nearby bandsaw in Chursoo. Before joining militancy Zubair had passed his class tenth 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’.
Meanwhile, the complete shutdown is being observed in Awantipora to mourn the militant killings.
