Raqib Ahmad Sheikh, the teenaged militant slain during a gunfight in southern Kashmir was buried Monday after five back-to-back funerals in Kulgam.
Sheikh, a shy boy quietly left his home one day last spring after passing his standard 12th examinations. His parents looked for him everywhere for a fortnight until they came to know he had joined militant ranks.
The boy had done so quietly, unlike the new-age militants who announce their rebellion by posing with arms on social media.
“He left home without telling us anything at all. We came to know about his decision only after we were informed about it by the police,” said his father Muhammad Amin Sheikh, 50, an orchardist.
Thousands converged at his house soon after news spread that young Shiekh was the slain during a gunfight that left three militants, a soldier and a top counterinsurgency police officer dead on Sunday.
The elder Sheikh said his son had never shown any inclination towards militancy nor would he ever talk about it.
“He (Raqib) was a shy looking boy who would never talk much even in his own friend circle not to talk of his parents or siblings,” said Zubair Ahmad, a relative.
“Yes, he was very pious right from his childhood days and would mostly spend time in his room reading.”
Zubair said the younger Shiekh was “never ever” harassed by any government forces.
“He would listen to people but not speak much.”
His family, however, alleged harassment after the February 14 deadly car bombing at Lethpora that left at least 40 paramilitaries dead.
Sheikh had joined Jaish-e-Mohammad, the militant group that claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.
Before Sheikh’s body reached home Monday morning, a large number of locals and relatives had already assembled at his home amid nightlong pro-freedom songs blaring from neighbourhood mosques.
A shutdown was observed in entire Kulgam district to mourn the killing of the three JeM militants, two of whom were identified as Pakistani nationals.
Internet services on mobile phones in the district continued to remain shut on Monday.
The other two militants were identified as Waleed and Numan – both from Pakistan, a police spokesperson said.
More than a dozen protesters who tried to help the besieged militants escape were injured after forces fired live ammunition to push them back.