DEHRUNA(ANANTNAG): Hizbul Mujahedeen militant Rouf Khanday, all of 18 years old, and one of the 13 suspected insurgents gunned down by security forces in Kashmir on Sunday, had two last wishes: one, that his father lead his funeral prayer and second, that his parents repay the ₹150 he owed to the shopkeeper who sold mobile recharge coupons in his village.
In what is being hailed as an extraordinary gesture in a counter-insurgency operation in the Valley, Anantnag senior superintendent of police (SSP) Altaf Khan sent for Rouf’s parents, urged them go inside the house and convince him to surrender.
Khan also spoke to Rouf himself over a mobile phone – which he sent inside – for at least halfan-hour, urging him to surrender. It proved to be in vain.
Rouf’s accomplice — a local Kashmiri militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen— did surrender, and leaving Rouf alone inside the house. Police has not revealed the identity of the militant who surrendered as yet.
In the family’s two-storey house in a small village called Dehruna — around 8km away from the site of encounter in Dialgam — Rouf’s father Bashir Ahmed Khanday recounted the 10-15 minute-long conversation he and his wife Hajira Bano had with their son a few hours before he was gunned down.
“Rouf was holed up in the first floor of the house. When we entered, he came down to the door on the ground floor and took us upstairs. His mother hugged him for a long time and I asked him what he intended to do,” said Bashir. “My son said his sole motive was martyrdom. I told him that he did not have much ammunition. He replied that whatever ammunition he had was enough and that would last him for the night.”
Rouf, certain of his eventual death in the gunbattle, told his father that no one but him should lead the funeral prayer. “I just kept staring at my son. I could not reply,” said Bashir.
Bashir said that when he and his wife left home to meet Rouf at the gunbattle site, they knew that he would not agree to surrender. “We thought if God has willed this last meeting, then we should go.”
According to Bashir, his son’s decision to join the militants was caused by his arrest and alleged harassment by security forces during the summer unrest of 2016 that left around 100 civilians dead and thousands injured in clashes. “Because Rouf had two-three photos of Burhan Wani (Hizbul commander whose killing led to the unrest) in his mobile, he was arrested and kept in jail for 45-odd days,” Bashir said.
Coincidentally, the Nikah ceremony of Rouf’s elder sister was scheduled on Sunday.
“Mother told Rouf that his sister’s hands were already adorned with mehendi. Rouf replied that Allah will take care of her,” added Ayoub Khanday, Rouf’s brother
