Srinagar, July 10: For past over a decade, Shazia Anwar of Doolipora Vilgam in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district has been searching for whereabouts of her father, Syed Anwar Shah, who went missing in 2001.
 Life took an ugly turn for Shazia after her father left for routine work and went missing. “After he did not return till evening, we grew anxious and searched for him at all possible places, but failed locate him. We lodged an FIR, but the cops too failed to locate his whereabouts,” said Anwar’s wife, Naseema Begum who along with her daughter, Shazia participated in a sit-in organized by the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) at Pratap Park here.
 Pertinently, the APDP organizes monthly sit-in here to press for whereabouts of their relatives who went missing in custody of various security agencies since 1990.
 Naseema said Shazia was only a year old at the time of the incident. “Over the years, Shazia accompanied me to jails and interrogation centres. She used to wake up in night and ask for her father’s whereabouts. In the initial years, I used to tell her that he would return, but gradually the reality dawned upon her,” she said. 
 “I approached everybody including police and civil officials for tracing my husband, but except assurances and promises, I got nothing,” says Naseema.
 Disappearance of the sole breadwinner has made the going tough for the hapless family. Presently putting up in two rented rooms at Safa Kadal, Naseema’s brother-in-law sells clothes on handcart to support the mother-daughter duo.  
 Naseema tied nuptial knot with Anwar in 2000. “We were living a happy life despite living in abject poverty. Birth of daughter added more joy to our lives, but his disappearance shattered my life,” she says. “We wouldn’t rest until we trace his whereabouts. We want to know whether he is dead or alive?,” Naseema said as Shazia looks on. 

Lastupdate on : Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST