Srinagar, June 10: After one year, when the father of slain teenager Tufail Matoo recalls him, a deep silence fills the room. It faces the backyard where Tufail used to play with his father, Ashraf Ahmad.
Ashraf recounts that tragic day (June 11, 2010) which left his entire family shell-shocked. “It was Tufail who shaved my face in the morning for a photograph. Then we played cricket and manicured this backyard together. Happiness was all around us. Tufail had returned in the morning from his maternal uncle’s home,” Ashraf recalls. 
Tufail, 17, was the first victim in last year’s unrest. He was allegedly hit by a police teargas shell on June 11, triggering spontaneous protests which led to the killing of more than 100 people in forces action.  
Later on, the family rejected the ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakh, announced by the Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi. Tufail was studying in Class XII at Government Higher Secondary School Hazratbal and was carrying school bag when he was killed. The shell had hit him on his skull, and he had died instantly. Initially the police had claimed that Tufail was murdered by some unknown youth. The autopsy and preliminary investigation, however, established that he was killed in police action.
Maternal uncle of Tufail, Muzaffar Ahmad, said that since his childhood, he had brought up him like his own son in his house at Nawakadal. The place is only a few meters away from the spot he was killed.
“We had no idea about his killing but disturbance was prevailing in the area. I was moving along with my friend to some place and everything appeared tense on road. A rumor was doing rounds in the area that a boy has been killed in Rajouri Kadal,” said Muzaffar.
That time, he said, he enquired about the killing from his friend a few yards away from the spot. That friend, he said, screamed “a beautiful boy has been killed.” “His brain lies scattered on road and it is being collected.”
“Without any reason I became apprehensive about the safety of Tufail and returned back. At that time Tufail was supposed to return from his tuition centre. I called the centre at Soura to enquire whether he had left for home. They told me that he had already left. I became more worried and restless,” he said. “After some time my phone rang and Tufail’s mother was on the other side she told me that he (Tufail) has been  injured somewhere. I along with brother and sister rushed to SMHS hospital. We came to know that boy has been killed and shifted to Police Control Room. We rushed there directly and couldn’t believe that Tufail was dead,” he said.
“On June 12, when we were carrying his body towards Martyrs’ graveyards at Eidgah, teargas shells and bullets were on fired on his funeral procession. Even Chief Minster didn’t share a word of sympathy with us. We are demanding justice and want guilty should be punished,” Muzaffar added.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:00:00 IST