Death of Innocence

Jawad narrates a sad tale of the Pampore Tragedy where a child was killed by a local

(Mr. Jawad Hussain Reshi, 56, was born in Kralteng, Anantnag. He went to local government schools for his early education, and received his B.Sc. and LL.B (Hons) degrees from the University of Kashmir. He is a practicing lawyer at the J&K High Court in Srinagar. He is a political activist and may join a political party. He is also a freelance journalists writing on international topics from time to time.)


Killing Kaleem Sends Shivers Down The Spine

Everyone knows death is a real and a natural phenomenon but yet at times it is so horrifying that one regrets as to why one was born in the first place.
Murder of a teenage boy Kaleem at Pampore is one such incident. It has not only shocked his relatives, friends but even the strangers who had never met or seen him in life time were devastated to hear about his untimely death. It had even more devastating effect on everyone’s heart and mind just because the way he was killed by him own friends in a cold blooded way that too in a broad day light and only a little away from his home town.

It shocked his parents and his two sisters most. But the kind of solidarity and sympathy shown by people must have given them a bit of relief at this hour of an unprecedented grief and crisis. He was only at the very threshold of his life and had not seen much of it as yet. He deserved a better deal apart from being around when it would be his turn to come forward and take care and charge of his parents. A budding youth who had in him a promise of becoming a hero of a sort for his family. No one had any right to cut short his life and shatter his dreams or that of his parents

We cannot say that this is the first incident of its kind because in last twenty years we have witnessed a large scale destruction and killings which Kashmiris were not used to or had ever witnessed or tasted before. But this particular death has raised innumerable questions which need to be answered by all of us. Apart from widespread condemnation of this heinous act we need a deeper retrospection to find out as to what has gone wrong with us. Why is it that we have become so wild, callous and stone hearted that we can kill each other even without any reason or guilt particularly as innocent and kind hearted kid as Kaleem was reported to be. One does not wonder what kind of harm he would not have meant nor done harm to any one whatsoever in his short life of 19 years. We as a society shall have to deliberate this issue and do whatever we can do to set right the social order and pattern of lives we want to leave for our next generation to breathe and live in. All our political leaders, social activists and religious leaders need to come together and make a joint effort to retrieve the values and principles our predecessors had left behind for us keep and follow.

There are different versions doing round right now regarding this incident but the real truth has yet to come to the surface and may take a little longer than expected. However a duty is however cast on the investigating agencies to investigate the matter in a fairest way and manner so that the real story is revealed and those guilty of this heinous crime are brought to the book and punished in accordance with law as soon as possible so that some of the wounds of the bereaved family are healed at the earliest.