On ballot day, village fears bullets it got

Lalhaar village has seen too much of death to believe that elections can bring life back to the Valley. Which is why, perhaps, nobody steppe...

Lalhaar village has seen too much of death to believe that elections can bring life back to the Valley. Which is why, perhaps, nobody stepped out to vote today.

For a village that has lost 30 lives in separatist violence and is waiting for a healing touch in the name of development, polls have no meaning, say residents. Ask the 250 households, where orphans and widows have been left uncared for, and they say there is no sign of government machinery here. And that the only official visitors are the uniformed men of the Special Operations Group (SOG).

Living with the memories of her two sons — Bashir Ahmad Bhat (33) and Mohammad Ramzan Bhat (35) — who died in separatist violence, 70-year-old Jana Begum says: ‘‘Ramzan was killed 10 years ago in the custody of security forces. Four years ago, the Task Force killed Bashir in this very room.’’ Pointing towards the window that was pierced by the bullets, Jana Begum says that Sheemima, Bashir’s widow, died of a heart attack three months later, leaving behind three children.

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Jana’s sister Kathija lost her two sons in the past 12 years. Firdous Ahmad, she alleges, was killed in the bed by the SOG while Ali Mohammad was shot dead by counter-insurgents in custody and his body dumped in the village.

Md Sultan Lone, 75, alleges his son was killed by security forces in custody in 1995. His son was a father of three and a militant. ‘‘I have no regrets. When he picked up the gun, I blessed and asked him to fight till the last drop of his blood,’’ he says.

Asked what would he recommend for his orphaned 12-year-old grandson, Lone replies, ‘‘I have no objections if he goes his father’s way. We have no alternative but to fight.’’

The bitterness is also directed at the other side of the political divide. A villager says that none of the proponents of azadi or the Hurriyat Conference ever visited the area to console the families.