For a region which is known for new age militancy thousands of people gathered and raised anti pak slogans.
Naik Mudassar Ahmad was one of two casualties — the other a five-year-old girl — when Pakistani soldiers opened fire across the Line of Control in Poonch district.
His home is less than two kilometers’ from the militant Bhurhan home. even Sabzar Bhat’s village is very near.
On Tuesday morning, Naik Mudassar’s wife Shahina and his mother Hafiza wept loudly under a tarpaulin sheet erected as a shelter for the scores of women mourners. Shahina shouted slogans against Pakistan, rare for a village where militants like Wani are looked up to.
Mudassar and Shahina’s children — Burhan (7) and Mehram (4) — were playing with neighbourhood children, oblivious to their father’s death. “Burhan has still not understood that his father is no more,” a relative said.
Villagers say, many locals are also enlisted in the forces, including army and police. Mudassar’s brother Farooq Ahmad, for instance, is serving in the Army.
“Everywhere only Kashmiris are killed in this conflict -- be it the militants, the cops, soldiers on the border, or civilians. When will this bloodshed end?”
Shahid’s uncle Nasir Ahmed is in the army and serves on a border front in the Jammu region, not far from where Mudassar was killed.