BASHARAAT MASOOD
There is no jail they haven’t covered in their search for their loved ones. There is no graveyard they haven’t visited in their quest. All in vain.
But they have one place to go, if only to find some solace and empathise with one another. A memorial built by the Association of Disappeared Persons (APDP) that stands on a paddy field near the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway, where the road takes a sharp turn.
Ironically, it was the day when the bus to reunite families divided by the Line of Control was taking its second journey to Muzaffarabad on April, 21, 2005 that these families sought their own reunion with their loved ones and gathered at the place next to the peace road.
“We built it so that the future generations know of our pain,” says Parveena Ahanger, APDP president, who says her son Javeed Ahmad disappeared in custody of security forces 13 years ago.
“The government started a bus (between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad) to reunite separated families. We set up this monument so that they remember our request. We too want to reunite with our sons”.
The monument is a brick wall. A black marble slate on the front has a message etched on it: “We shall never allow the past to be forgotten. We shall never allow this crime to happen to our future generations”. APDP hopes to create awareness on their plight through this memorial. But it is more of a solace to the members, mostly mothers of the disappeared. “I feel light here. My son is missing and unlike those whose sons were killed, we didn’t have a graveyard for our children,” says 65-year-old Mughli Begum, who lives alone after the disappearance of her only son. “It is my son’s grave now. I go there to cry”.
When a group of 200 people gathered to throw the monument open, everyone present was in tears. Adil Badyari and four other children inaugurated the memorial that has become the first in Kashmir to represent the memories of years of pain that haunted their mothers. These five children, all less than 10 years of age, were born after their fathers disappeared.
APDP has a resolve. It’s inscribed on the stone erected at Narbal off the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway. “The justice we seek lies in not forgetting those who should never be forgotten”. And they aren’t alone. To stand by them is the civil society across the country.
APDP says around 10,000 men have disappeared in custody of security forces and police since militancy began in Kashmir.
There is no jail they haven’t covered in their search for their loved ones. There is no graveyard they haven’t visited in their quest. All in vain.
But they have one place to go, if only to find some solace and empathise with one another. A memorial built by the Association of Disappeared Persons (APDP) that stands on a paddy field near the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway, where the road takes a sharp turn.
Ironically, it was the day when the bus to reunite families divided by the Line of Control was taking its second journey to Muzaffarabad on April, 21, 2005 that these families sought their own reunion with their loved ones and gathered at the place next to the peace road.
“We built it so that the future generations know of our pain,” says Parveena Ahanger, APDP president, who says her son Javeed Ahmad disappeared in custody of security forces 13 years ago.
“The government started a bus (between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad) to reunite separated families. We set up this monument so that they remember our request. We too want to reunite with our sons”.
The monument is a brick wall. A black marble slate on the front has a message etched on it: “We shall never allow the past to be forgotten. We shall never allow this crime to happen to our future generations”. APDP hopes to create awareness on their plight through this memorial. But it is more of a solace to the members, mostly mothers of the disappeared. “I feel light here. My son is missing and unlike those whose sons were killed, we didn’t have a graveyard for our children,” says 65-year-old Mughli Begum, who lives alone after the disappearance of her only son. “It is my son’s grave now. I go there to cry”.
When a group of 200 people gathered to throw the monument open, everyone present was in tears. Adil Badyari and four other children inaugurated the memorial that has become the first in Kashmir to represent the memories of years of pain that haunted their mothers. These five children, all less than 10 years of age, were born after their fathers disappeared.
APDP has a resolve. It’s inscribed on the stone erected at Narbal off the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway. “The justice we seek lies in not forgetting those who should never be forgotten”. And they aren’t alone. To stand by them is the civil society across the country.
APDP says around 10,000 men have disappeared in custody of security forces and police since militancy began in Kashmir.
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