MAJID JAHANGIR
Seven years have passed by since he was picked. And this Shah family in north Kashmir's Janbazpora area in Baramulla, still clinging on to a single "unrealistic" hope -- hope to see the only earning member back.
Habib-u-llah Shah, a mechanic in a government department was picked up seven years ago, allegedly by security forces. But till today relatives and neighbours are clueless as to why did such a thing happen to the father of three minors.
Thirty eight-year-old Habib-u-llah Shah was picked up allegedly by security men from his house at Baramulla on the intervening night of January 28, 2000. Shah, a mechanic in the Public Health Engineering, Baramulla, was the only bread earner in his family of five. His wife Haneefa, sons Ishfaq (10) and Imran (7) and daughter Sumaya (8). Since then Haneefa visited all the shrines in the Valley praying for her husbands return, and would accompany neighbours and relatives searching Army camps and police stations.
"We hunted all possible places, pleaded with security forces and the Army for informations," says Manzoor Ahmed a resident of the village who has been following Shah's case for the past seven years. "He was just an ordinary man, working to earn his livelihood. He didn't have any links with militancy. Why was he picked up is still a mystery."
The morning after he was picked up, the family lodged a complaint with police. But they had a different story to say. "Police claim Shah was picked by unidentified gunmen," recalls Ahmed. "Even the Army categorically any involvement with his arrest."
The night he was arrested spelled the dark days for the family. "On one hand we had to search for Shah and on the other we were concerned about the family," says Shah's brother-in-law Ghulam Hassan. It was Hassan who helped the family economically and is still standing-by them.
After all these years not many sees hope in his return. Shah's wife is, however, optimistic. "I still hope that one day he will return," says his wife Haneefa. "He is innocent and I have faith in God."
After the recent fake encounter killing was exposed by J-K Police, a new fear of "knowing the truth" has taken over the hopeful souls. Villagers are now more than sure that Habib-ul-llah must be buried somewhere. "We fear Shah must be lying in some unknown grave," says a neighbour. "Had he been alive or languishing in any jail he would have contacted the family by any means."
Seven years have passed by since he was picked. And this Shah family in north Kashmir's Janbazpora area in Baramulla, still clinging on to a single "unrealistic" hope -- hope to see the only earning member back.
Habib-u-llah Shah, a mechanic in a government department was picked up seven years ago, allegedly by security forces. But till today relatives and neighbours are clueless as to why did such a thing happen to the father of three minors.
Thirty eight-year-old Habib-u-llah Shah was picked up allegedly by security men from his house at Baramulla on the intervening night of January 28, 2000. Shah, a mechanic in the Public Health Engineering, Baramulla, was the only bread earner in his family of five. His wife Haneefa, sons Ishfaq (10) and Imran (7) and daughter Sumaya (8). Since then Haneefa visited all the shrines in the Valley praying for her husbands return, and would accompany neighbours and relatives searching Army camps and police stations.
"We hunted all possible places, pleaded with security forces and the Army for informations," says Manzoor Ahmed a resident of the village who has been following Shah's case for the past seven years. "He was just an ordinary man, working to earn his livelihood. He didn't have any links with militancy. Why was he picked up is still a mystery."
The morning after he was picked up, the family lodged a complaint with police. But they had a different story to say. "Police claim Shah was picked by unidentified gunmen," recalls Ahmed. "Even the Army categorically any involvement with his arrest."
The night he was arrested spelled the dark days for the family. "On one hand we had to search for Shah and on the other we were concerned about the family," says Shah's brother-in-law Ghulam Hassan. It was Hassan who helped the family economically and is still standing-by them.
After all these years not many sees hope in his return. Shah's wife is, however, optimistic. "I still hope that one day he will return," says his wife Haneefa. "He is innocent and I have faith in God."
After the recent fake encounter killing was exposed by J-K Police, a new fear of "knowing the truth" has taken over the hopeful souls. Villagers are now more than sure that Habib-ul-llah must be buried somewhere. "We fear Shah must be lying in some unknown grave," says a neighbour. "Had he been alive or languishing in any jail he would have contacted the family by any means."
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