Srinagar, June 19: “As I write this, five more civilians have been murdered by the armed forces. The curfew has kept me indoors for over seventy two hours. Somebody, anybody...please make the violence stop. Before there is none…,”
 With these excerpts, the book Long drive to freedom—a compilation of articles and elegies on last year’s unrest in the Valley by prominent human rights activists and lawyer Sajid Iqbal Khanday, who died in a road accident last month, was released at SKICC here today.
 As Sajid’s friends, read his tributes to students and teenagers who were killed during last year’s unrest, the audience comprising people from all walks of life and top brass of administration and police listened patiently.
 A pin-drop silence in the jam-packed auditorium from the commencement of the tributes, indicated mood of the audience who had thronged the venue to pay homage to Sajid. There were also sighs and tears as speakers delved on the life of this young human rights activist, who had penned down his emotions through his write-ups.
 Sitting among the audience, some senior ministers, bureaucrats and police officers, who were at the helm of affairs during the last year’s unrest, too stood motionless as Sajid’s heart touching narrative on the killings reverberated the auditorium.
 And when Sajid’s message of putting an end to killings was read, every soul in the audience could not stop to reciprocate with claps.
 As lights abruptly faded out in the auditorium, Sajid’s picture with smiling face appeared on the life-size screen. The montage traced his eventful life and activities mainly aimed at mitigating the sufferings of downtrodden. 
 On the occasion, Sajid’s sister, Sehar Iqbal launched the Sajid Iqbal Foundation for Peace and Human Rights. “We have decided to work on the objectives which were close to Sajid,” Sehar said in an emotional tone.
 Spelling out the Foundation’s aims, Sehar said it would work to promote and widen the discourses on peace and human rights in Kashmir through education and critical thinking. She said the Foundation also envisages working on issues affecting youth, including, but not limited to, development, employment, employability and skill enhancement.
 “We will work towards the empowerment of women, children and other vulnerable groups, weaker and disadvantaged sections of society and create access to justice through both judicial and non- judicial processes. Besides we aim to develop and institutionalize processes of truth and reconciliation as a means of peace building and conflict resolution in Kashmir,” Sehar said.
 Elaborating, she said besides education support program and campaign to promote human rights discourse, the Foundation will launch an on-call ambulance service for roadside assistance to victims of traffic accidents in Kashmir.
 The Foundation has also launched a website www.thesajidiqbalfoundation.com portraying its activities and future plans.
 Earlier, Sajid book was released by his maternal and paternal grandparents Shamusudin Ganai and Abdul Ghani Khanday. During a session “How Sajid touched my life-within and outside the state?”, Sajid’s close friends and people from different walks of life shared their experiences. “Sajid inspired me to work for peoples’ welfare. He was a down to earth person who worked for empowerment of Kashmiris,” one of the speakers said.  
 In his elegy, noted poet Ghulam Nabi Gowhar praised Sajid’s efforts for upliftment of the society. Journalist Tariq Ali Mir, read out the poetic tributes of noted poet Farooq Nazki to Sajid. The audience left the auditorium with sad faces apparently sad dened by Sajid’s death and unfinished noble mission.
 The scene outside the SKICC was not different. Its parking lot symbolized the audience composition inside the auditorium. Red light and bullet proof cars were parked amidst vehicles of common people.
 “The positive thing of this event is that people irrespective of status, rank or ideologies shared a common platform to pay tributes to Sajid. This shows Sajid’s greatness and recognition of his noble works,” a journalist said.  
 Sajid (27) was the only son of Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, Iqbal Khanday, and Registrar Judicial High Court, Kaneez Fatima. He was killed when his car rammed into a road-side tree at Chechkote near Awantipora on May 18.
 Born on June 19, 1984, Sajid passed his matriculation with distinction from the Burn Hall School. He later graduated in law from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and was presently working as legal advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Women’s Development Corporation and Entrepreneurship Development Institute.
 Earlier this year he worked as project officer in an international developmental organization Mercy Corps. Family sources said Sajid was recently awarded scholarship by the Institute of Peace and Security London and was scheduled to leave for Egypt this month. But destiny had something else in store for him.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 IST