Inside the heart-wrenching tales of Mir Bazaar shootout

Innocent lives were lost in the Mir Bazaar shootout. While we read endless news reports about it, in an attempt to make sense of it, it is tough for the families, who lost their dear ones in the attack.

Tragedy struck Zaina Begum due to the Mir Baazar shootout incident in Anantnag district. As fate would have it, her son-in-law Niyaz Ahmad was one of the civilians, who was killed in the shootout.

Eighteen-years-ago, when Zaina Begum had lost her husband and son, she married her elder daughter to Niyaz Ahmad, who was a pillar of strength for the family. But little did Zaina Begum’s family knew that they would have to witness a similar misfortune of losing the support of a male member again after eighteen-years.  He is survived by his wife and three children.

Niyaz was brought up at his ancestral house in Janglat Mandi in the vicinity of Anantnag town. He was fondly called Gashu. He was employed as a driver at Ramky Infrastructures. Despite his struggles, he kept his family quite well. He married off all the sisters of his wife and with small savings managed to construct a small and a cozy house for his family.

On the ill-fated day of the shootout, his wife and children were eagerly waiting for him to come back, but he kept them waiting. This happily married man never returned home from duty. What came home, to the horror of the family, was the news of him being killed.

Suhail Nabi Bhat was also killed in the Mir Bazaar shootout. A post-graduate in Sociology, he immediately started working after the completion of his studies to support his family. Without, waiting to take up a government job, he decided to join Ramky Infrastructures as a supervisor. He was the sole breadwinner of his family.

His old parents, who are ill and cannot work, were dependent on him. It was through this salary that he could ensure their medical treatment. Not just the parents, his two siblings were also his responsibility as he was financing their studies. One sibling of Suhail is an undergraduate student and the other is in class 12 but is physically quite weak. 

Same is the story of a cop and a militant who were also killed in the attack. The militant left behind his parents, wife and a one-year-old child while the cop left behind his old, aged parents, wife and two small children.

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