SRI NAGAR: After J&K authorities exhumed bodies of two Srinagar residents killed in the Hyderpora encounter and handed the bodies over to families for burial, the father of another slain civilian has demanded return of the mortal remains of his 22-year-old son Aamir Magray.
Meanwhile, Kashmir observed a shutdown on Friday adhering to the call by the Hurriyat Conference against “civilian killings”. “I want justice. My son Aamir was not a militant. I want return of mortal remains of Aamir so that we can give a proper burial to his body,” Aamir’s father Lateef Magray, a resident of Ramban district, told this newspaper.
According to Lateef, he met the DC and the SP of Ramban and they told him they would raise the issue with the authorities concerned.“I urge Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to return the mortal remains of my son,” said Lateef, who in 2005 had killed a militant and was given bravery medal by then J&K Governor
N N Vohra.
“I had worked with the army for five years against militants. And how can the son of the person, who all through his life had fought militants, be a militant. They have labelled us militants too,” said Lateef, adding, “Aamir was working as an office boy in the office of Dr Mudasir Gul (one of the four killed in the encounter)”.
CPI (M) leader and Gupkar spokesman Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also urged the administration to return the body of Aamir to the family as it has been “proven beyond any doubt that he was a civilian”.
“Aamir Magrey is yet to be given a decent burial by his mourning family. The fact that these families are begging for mortal remains instead of asking for justice reflects their lack of faith in the system. His body must be returned immediately,” tweeted PDP chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti.
Other political parties and the Hurriyat have also demanded return of mortal remains of Aamir to his family.Normal life in Kashmir was affected by the shutdown called by Hurriyat Conference. All shops and business establishments in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley remained closed while a few vehicles plied on the roads.