Pervaiz Shah
It was evening time of 5th May. The dense shades of apple trees were slowly putting dark veil over the greenery surrounding them as I and my best friend were making way through apple orchards towards my house. Amid the familiar silence, we heard the sound of some mysterious footsteps approaching us. We stopped our journey and were surprised to see some beautiful young boys in military fatigues and wielding automatic weapons. After exchanging greetings in Arabic, they welcomed us with great affection and love.Among the boys was a op commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Saddam Paddar and a new face without having any weapon in his hands. The new face we were curious about was none other than the assistant professor Mr. Muhammad Rafi Bhat from central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, a new member of the armed resistance front having joined only 24 hours ago and surprisingly enough, his joining was not officially declared yet.
I started my conversation with professor Rafi to understand the circumstances under which he had taken the decision to join Kashmir’s largest indigenous armed group – Hizbul Mujahideen. I asked him whether joining armed resistance was the only viable solution to fight Indian rule in Kashmir to which he gave a much satisfactory answer by making me understand that every freedom movement has different aspects and it will be unfair to lay stress on only one while ignoring the significance of others. I asked him as to why he did not chose to fight on diplomatic level and make people aware of the layers of conflict and write against the gross misrepresentation of the inhabitants of this unfortunate vale. His answer was precise and full of wisdom. He told me that I have been in constant touch with people and have worked with great enthusiasm to rebut the propaganda of Indian government and also tried to make people aware, especially from my own area that holds a different position regarding the movement and at the end I realized that writing the verdict with my own blood will make a lot of difference on ground. Sometimes the revolution we yearn for demands your own blood and we should not hesitate to give our own, he explained to me in a somber way. There, a couplet of Allama Iqbal struck my mind:
If a mountain of grief collapsed upon the Ottomans then why lament For the dawn arises from the blood of a hundred thousand stars After the end of conversation, it was getting late and I requested him to meet again to which he told me that no one in this field can guarantee such a thing for we are not certain as to what will happen with us the very next moment! It was true to a great extent and I understood the context fully. With heavy heart and tearful eyes, we had to bid adieu to the great commander Kashmir will forever remember. It was already late when we reached home. After praying the Isha prayers I tried to sleep whilst all the episode making rounds in my mind. Finally I slept somehow and had a beautiful dream where I could see Saddam Padder with his companions having a great time at some beautiful place with beautiful flowers and gardens! The calm of night was shattered with early morning sounds of gunshots. That Sunday turned out to be the bloodiest one. Loudspeakers where blaring with the news of commander Saddam Padder and his associates having trapped in a fierce gun battle in Badigam Village of Shopian, south of Kashmir. The locals of the area tried to rescue the armed fighters but after fighting valiantly for several hours, all of them got martyrdom including Professor Muhammad Rafi Bhat! May Allah elevate their ranks in Heavens’!AAmeen