A pall of gloom has descended Hajin township since the death of 12-year-old Atif Mir who was killed in an encounter here along with two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants on Friday.
Everyone in the township is in shock and grief over thekilling of Atif. The natives of the village as well as outsiders continue tothrong the residence of Atif to express condolences to his parents.
Shareefa Begum who was surrounded by women in a tent, isinconsolable as she has lost the only son among two daughters.
Atif’s father, Mohammad Shafi Mir, in another tent issurrounded by the mourners who continue to visit them. Mir was sitting quietlyin one corner of the tent with numb eyes.
The family has put two separate tents for the men and thewomen in the lawns of their house, which was reduced to rubble after the forcesblasted it on Friday evening during the final assault to kill the militantshiding in it.
“I have lost everything with my son. He was my only hope. Hewas innocent. I had never thought he would leave us like this,” Mir said in avery low voice.
He said his son had big dreams as he wanted to study atSainik School in Manasbal. “A few months ago he had told me to submit form inSainik School Manasbal to seek admission for him there. Only a month ago I hadsubmitted the form on his request as he was everything to me. He had joinedclass 6th this year but I had never imagined he would leave us at such a tenderage,” he said.
Mir said he had no idea why the militants held him captiveinside the house.
“The militants were in our house for three days and when theforce cordoned off the house Atif was not let go by the militants, instead theyheld him there. Along with Atif his uncle too was inside but later he managedto escape,” he said.
“We made appeals to the militants to release him but all invain. Atif’s mother, village head and Auqaf committee also made announcementsthrough speakers to get him released but the militants did not listen to andultimately my son got killed. He was too young to even manage escape from thehouse like his uncle did,” Mir said.
Not only the kin of Atif, the entire Hajin is in deep shock.”We have no words to express the shock the death of Atif has put us through.Everyone in the village is in mourning and every eye is numb. Atif was agraceful child. He was a gem and too innocent to die like this,” said Atif’sneighbor, Arshid Mir.
“Everyone was makingprayers in the village when they came to know that Atif has got stuck insidethe house along with the militants,” he said.
Meanwhile, the villagers have volunteered themselves toclear the debris of the house. “We have come out voluntarily to support thefamily and remove the debris of the house. The family is in deep shock theycannot do such things at this moment so we have gathered here to remove thedebris,” said Ramiz Parrey, one among those who were removing the debris.