Inam Ul Haq
On December 11, 1991 Mohammad Altaf Sheikh ( 23) was working at his carpet factory in Botakadal, Lalbazar, along with his colleagues when a gypsy of the Border Security Forces (BSF) raided the factory and picked him up, say his family members. Altaf has never returned since.
Immediately, after his arrest, family members and neighbours held a demonstration to put pressure on government to release him. Later, no security agency claimed responsibility for his arrest.
"Every day my father would visit BSF camps hoping for news about his son," says Yasmeena, Altaf's sister. "But no one was ready to divulge information." Altaf's father could not bear the loss of his son and died.
In 1997, a ray of hope rekindled. Shiekh's ailing mother Rafiqa Begum got a letter written by someone on behalf of Shiekh. In the letter Shiekh mentioned he was kept at the Air Cargo jail in Srinagar and will be shifted to Badamibagh.
"We managed a security pass for Badamibagh. Unfortunately, the officer-in-charge did not allow me to see my son and denied he was in the camp," says Rafiqa.
Rafiqa says she saw her son whose hands where tied in a vehicle in Badamibagh. "He (Altaf) too saw me and I ran after the vehicle but the guards closed the door and the vehicles left," recalls Rafiqa.
After the incident, Rafiqa lost her mental balance and was admitted to a hospital for a year. "I lost my son and my husband too. What worse I can see now?"
Altaf's family had filed a habeas corpus petition in J-K High Court. "We don't have resources to follow it now," says Rafiqa.
On December 11, 1991 Mohammad Altaf Sheikh ( 23) was working at his carpet factory in Botakadal, Lalbazar, along with his colleagues when a gypsy of the Border Security Forces (BSF) raided the factory and picked him up, say his family members. Altaf has never returned since.
Immediately, after his arrest, family members and neighbours held a demonstration to put pressure on government to release him. Later, no security agency claimed responsibility for his arrest.
"Every day my father would visit BSF camps hoping for news about his son," says Yasmeena, Altaf's sister. "But no one was ready to divulge information." Altaf's father could not bear the loss of his son and died.
In 1997, a ray of hope rekindled. Shiekh's ailing mother Rafiqa Begum got a letter written by someone on behalf of Shiekh. In the letter Shiekh mentioned he was kept at the Air Cargo jail in Srinagar and will be shifted to Badamibagh.
"We managed a security pass for Badamibagh. Unfortunately, the officer-in-charge did not allow me to see my son and denied he was in the camp," says Rafiqa.
Rafiqa says she saw her son whose hands where tied in a vehicle in Badamibagh. "He (Altaf) too saw me and I ran after the vehicle but the guards closed the door and the vehicles left," recalls Rafiqa.
After the incident, Rafiqa lost her mental balance and was admitted to a hospital for a year. "I lost my son and my husband too. What worse I can see now?"
Altaf's family had filed a habeas corpus petition in J-K High Court. "We don't have resources to follow it now," says Rafiqa.
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