This sleepy, native village of a Kashmiri soldier of the Indian army has turned into a strange, circumspect place after the highest peacetime gallantry award Ashok Chakra was announced for him posthumously.
Nazir Ahmad Wani was an Ikhwani, a dreaded government gunman before joining the army. He was killed in November last year during a gunbattle with rebels at Batgund village of Shopian that also left six militants dead including Umar Ganaie, a commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba group.
Wani’s village appears unaffected with the “feat” achieved by him posthumously, before which he was twice a recipient of Sena Medal.
Everyone in the village, including Wani’s neighbors and even his family maintain caution while talking about him.
Behind the circumspection is Wani’s past as a counterinsurgent Ikhwani which many villagers believe brought “disrepute” to them.
Others simply do not want to put themselves in “unnecessary trouble” by talking about Wani.
A visit by this reporter, a stranger, irks a woman at his home.
“There is no male in the house. I cannot tell you anything,” she says and dials her phone.
Soon, a skinny man arrives. He identifies himself as Mushtaq, younger brother of Wani.
“We came to know about the award (Ashok Chakra) after some people came to us in the morning,” said Mushtaq, welcoming this reporter inside the house.
“This award does not serve any meaning to us. One who is lost is lost,” Mushtaq says speaking Kashmiri.
Wani, who owned a house in Jammu, left behind his wife Mahjabeen, a teacher, and two children Athar and Shahid studying in class 10th and 8th respectively.
Before rising to the rank of Lance Naik in the army, Nazir worked as counterinsurgent, after which Mushtaq said he rarely used to be home and lived in a house in Ikhwan colony, a residential area for counterinsurgents in the district.
“He had a sort of passion for the gun when he was a teenager. For some time during 90s, he tried to be in contact with famous militant commander Mohammad Ayoub from nearby Bhan village. But, he was never accepted in the militant ranks,” said Wani’s close relative, wishing anonymity.
“He studied only till class 2,” he said, adding Wani could fluently speak in Urdu and Hindi.
A group of villagers whisper about how the village didn’t mourn Wani’s death when his body was brought home after the November encounter.
For them, Wani had chosen an “abnormal way” of life.
“The village was kept under cordon, besides nobody inside their homes was allowed to come outside. Whosoever in the village was out, he was asked by army to participate in his (Wani’s) funeral rites. There were mainly former counterinsurgents, army men and some elders besides his family who were present,” a youthful villager said, showing video clips of soldiers paying tribute to their “martyr” as other crowded around.
In the quaint village of 112 households, mostly farmers, Wani was the only one to join counterinsurgency. No one joined militant ranks.
Villagers say, lately some five boys have chosen a career joining government forces.
But graffiti eulogising militants and ‘Azadi’ can be seen painted on the village walls, reflecting its prevailing “changed” mood, villagers say came about since youngsters routinely started participating in funerals of slain militants after Hizb commander Burhan Wani was killed.
The village however is rife with stories of how Wani had pledged before mother of his slain colleague, Mukhtar Gola, to avenge his killing.
Gola, Wani’s counterinsurgent friend is believed to have been killed by LeT commander Umar Ganaie.
Ganaie was among the six militants killed during the firefight in which Wani also died.
“Both died fighting each other. One became shaheed, another a fauji shaheed,” said a close relative of Wani’s.