Sadrebal, (Palhallan) Oct 21: Ali Muhammad Sofi and his wife Fareeda Begum tried their best to ensure that their 10-year old son Muddasir Ahmed, who was injured during present unrest, recovers before his exams, but they could not succeed as the injuries kept him away.
 Muddasir, a class 5th student of Government Middle school Saderabal is not able to stand up even on crutches after he was shot in left thigh on September 17 by troopers and personnel of Special Operation Group of police.
 His leg has been fractured and he is bedridden. “Don’t worry you will recuperate quickly,” his mother Fareeda tells her son.
 “See my son couldn’t appear in examination. I don’t how much time he will take to recover. He has been marked absent in both papers and has lost one precious year of his academics,” she says.
 Despite living in abject poverty, Ali Muhammad Sofi and Fareeda left no stone unturned to get their three children Shabir Ahmed, Rifat and Muddasir educated.
 Carpenter by profession, Ali Muhammad says he would make Rs 5000- Rs 6000 monthly from the job to sustain family and finance studies of their children.
 “I had dream of educating them but due to poverty I couldn’t admit them in a private school but I made it sure that they get all facilities in a government school. But forces have shattered my dreams,” he adds.
 While recalling that fateful day his father said: “We were shocked to know that he has been shot at. Forces opened fire without any provocation and there was no stone pelting in the area on that day. After he was shot police and troopers did not allow us to take him to a hospital directly.”
 Ali Muhammad said that they had to take an alternative route to ensure that Muddasir gets treatment. “We were not allowed to move through the highway. Somehow we managed to take him to Budgam hospital from where he was referred to Bone and Joint Hospital Barzulla,” he said.
 “Doctors operated upon him at Barzulla and we had to pay a huge amount for his treatment. We had to borrow money from neighbours. Despite our relentless efforts he could not appear in the examinations,” Ali Muhammad added.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 21 Oct 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:00:00 IST