MIR EHSAN
After 14 years of wait, Ghulam Nabi Matoo, 60, still hopes that his only son Javid Ahmad will return to bail the three-member family, which now puts up at Fateh Kadal locality, out of poverty.
Matoo says he can never forget the day his son was picked up by the BSF, November 3, 1993. Ahmed was just 13 years old then and was studying in class VII.
"I remember the day my son disappeared," says Matoo who drives an auto-rickshaw for a living. "Being my only son, he was the apple of my eyes. The day he was arrested we were having lunch at our house in Pulwama," he said adding that a BSF party led by an officer told him that his son will be set free after some investigation. "To avoid my son's arrest I even offered myself to the troops."
Ahmad did not return that night. Mattoo, along with other family members, went to the camp the next morning. "The officers showed me some rounds of ammunition they claimed to have recovered from my son's possession," he said, adding that the officer still assured him that the boy will be released without harm.
Matoo says he met his son at the camp and was sure he will be set free within a few days. Five days later came the shocking news. "After offering me a cup of tea, the officer told me my son had escaped during an exchange of fire between troops and militants in Pulwama," he said tears rolling down his cheeks. "That was the moment I thought my son has been killed," he says. He pleaded that his son was innocent. "But nobody was ready to hear my woes."
Matoo also registered a case at the local police station about the disappearance of his son. Six months later came some "good" news about Ahmad. A neighbour told the family that somebody had seen Ahmad at a BSF camp in Hazratbal. "We approached the camp in charge. But he denied that my son was there."
Matoo is well aware that 14 years is a long time. But he has not lost hope. In the search for Ahmad, the family shifted to Srinagar from Pulwama. "Three years after my son went missing. My daughter, who was 15 years old, could not bear the absence of her brother and died of cardiac arrest," he said, adding that they were now only three members in the family. "Ours was a happy family. But after my son's disappearance everything changed," he said. "I used to dream about his future," he says. "Now I have only memories left. My son will return some day and bring happiness to the family."
Matoo has got himself associated with the APDP (Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons) and does not miss any sit-in to highlight Kashmir's missing people.
After 14 years of wait, Ghulam Nabi Matoo, 60, still hopes that his only son Javid Ahmad will return to bail the three-member family, which now puts up at Fateh Kadal locality, out of poverty.
Matoo says he can never forget the day his son was picked up by the BSF, November 3, 1993. Ahmed was just 13 years old then and was studying in class VII.
"I remember the day my son disappeared," says Matoo who drives an auto-rickshaw for a living. "Being my only son, he was the apple of my eyes. The day he was arrested we were having lunch at our house in Pulwama," he said adding that a BSF party led by an officer told him that his son will be set free after some investigation. "To avoid my son's arrest I even offered myself to the troops."
Ahmad did not return that night. Mattoo, along with other family members, went to the camp the next morning. "The officers showed me some rounds of ammunition they claimed to have recovered from my son's possession," he said, adding that the officer still assured him that the boy will be released without harm.
Matoo says he met his son at the camp and was sure he will be set free within a few days. Five days later came the shocking news. "After offering me a cup of tea, the officer told me my son had escaped during an exchange of fire between troops and militants in Pulwama," he said tears rolling down his cheeks. "That was the moment I thought my son has been killed," he says. He pleaded that his son was innocent. "But nobody was ready to hear my woes."
Matoo also registered a case at the local police station about the disappearance of his son. Six months later came some "good" news about Ahmad. A neighbour told the family that somebody had seen Ahmad at a BSF camp in Hazratbal. "We approached the camp in charge. But he denied that my son was there."
Matoo is well aware that 14 years is a long time. But he has not lost hope. In the search for Ahmad, the family shifted to Srinagar from Pulwama. "Three years after my son went missing. My daughter, who was 15 years old, could not bear the absence of her brother and died of cardiac arrest," he said, adding that they were now only three members in the family. "Ours was a happy family. But after my son's disappearance everything changed," he said. "I used to dream about his future," he says. "Now I have only memories left. My son will return some day and bring happiness to the family."
Matoo has got himself associated with the APDP (Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons) and does not miss any sit-in to highlight Kashmir's missing people.
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