Srinagar, May 18: Son of a senior IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir was killed in a road accident at Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district last night.
Sajid Iqbal Khanday, 27, the only son of Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, Iqbal Khanday, and Registrar Judicial High Court, Kaneez Fatima, was killed when his car rammed into a road-side tree at Chechkote near Awantipora at 12.45 am.
Reports said Sajid, a lawyer, was on way to his home in Srinagar after attending a marriage function in south Kashmir when the mishap occurred. As Sajid’s body reached his home at Church Lane here his parents could not control their emotions. “Please wake up and talk to us for the last time,” Khanday yelled as people tried to console him. Hundreds of people including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah besides ministers, bureaucrats and politicians participated in his funeral prayers at SK Cricket Stadium Sonwar here. Sajid’s body was laid to rest at a graveyard in Friends Colony Humhama here.
Lawyers in the High Court and other subordinate courts abstained from work as a mark of solidarity with the family.
Family sources said that nearly two hours before the accident, Iqbal Khanday, who was in Delhi, had called Sajid on his mobile. “Iqbal Sahib would always call his son before sleeping. Sajid had told him that he was accompanying his friend’s baraat and would reach home late. In the morning when Iqbal called on Sajid’s phone, it was picked up by a constable of Police Station Awantipora. After learning about Iqbal Sahib’s relationship with Sajid, the cop sensing gravity of the situation did not tell him about Sajid’s death and dropped the phone saying his son had suffered minor injuries in an accident,” they said.
However, Iqbal sensed that something untoward had happened and called his brother-in-law DIG south Kashmir Shafqat Watali and other relatives to know about his son’s condition. “We lied to Iqbal Sahib that Sajid was fine and asked him to reach Srinagar by first flight. And when he reached home, he was shocked to learn about the death of his only son,” a family friend said.
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.
“Sajid had immense love for Kashmir. During the 2005 earthquake, he returned from UK and worked with an NGO for earthquake victims in Tangdar. He wanted to work for upliftment of the downtrodden. But destiny had something else in store for him,” said one of his close friends.
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 in June.
“Daayaem aabaad raheygee duniyaa...hum na hongey koi humsa hoga,” Sajid had stated in a recent post on Facebook. He is survived by father, mother and sister Seher Khanday.
Meanwhile, people from different walks of life thronged the house of Iqbal Khanday at Church Lane here to offer condolences to the bereaved family. CM Omar Abdullah, ministers, senior civil and police officers visited the bereaved family and offered their condolences. On the occasion, the CM consoled the bereaved family and prayed for peace to the departed soul.
Earlier, besides the CM, Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, PDP Patron Mufti Muhammad Syed, Chief Justice F M Ibrahim Kalifulla, High Court judges Justice Mansoor Ahmad, Justice Muhammad Yaqoob and Justice Hasnain Masoodi participated in the funeral prayers.
Governor, NN Vohra, also expressed grief over Sajid’s death and extended condolences to the bereaved family. Senior PDP leaders including Mufti Muhammad Syed, Mehbooba Mufti, Muhammad Dilawar Mir and Syed Altaf Bukhari condoled the demise and expressed sympathies with the bereaved family.
The chairman of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Muhammad Yaseen Malik expressed profound grief over demise of Sajid and expressed sympathies with the bereaved family.
In a condolence meeting led by its president Mian Abdul Qayoom, the High Court Bar Association expressed grief over Sajid’s death terming it a great loss to the lawyer fraternity and society at large.
Bar also suspended work in all courts of Srinagar today as a mark of solidarity with the bereaved family.
The Bar Association Shopian and Bar Association Baramulla, the High Court Staff Welfare Association (HCSWA), Jammu and Kashmir Judicial Employees Welfare Association, the Judicial Officers Srinagar also expressed grief over the demise. Among others, IGP Kashmir SM Sahai, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Kashmir and Jammu, management of State Women’s Development Corporation and Director and staff of JKEDI also expressed sorrow over the death.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 18 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 18 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 IST