Srinagar: Almost 20 families whose houses were destroyed or damaged during the Nawa Kadal encounter will now be able to reconstruct their houses, while the families of the civilians killed in a building collapse at the site will be taken care of.
This has become possible after people donated enough money for building their houses, an initiative started by Intizamia Committee Masjid Hanfia of Kani Manzar Srinagar. The mosque committee, soon after the encounter ended on May 19, started asking people to donate for the victims.
“We have asked people to not donate anymore to our accounts,” said Abdul Rahman, a member of the committee. “After substantial money was deposited for the welfare of the victims, we appealed not to deposit any more. We have disbursed the money among the victims and soon the work will start.”
About 20 families were left homeless after their houses were destroyed or substantially damaged during the encounter in which government forces killed two militants. Mushtaq Ahmad, another member of the mosque committee, told Kashmir Reader that the reconstruction work was waiting for the police to clear the debris as there could have been some dangerous ammunition lying there. The homeless families have been living either in neighbours’ or relatives’ houses or in their damaged houses.
The collected money has also been disbursed among families of the three civilians who succumbed to their injuries days after they were injured at the encounter site due to crumbling of a residential house, Rahman said. Some locals say that the civilians were injured in a blast, a claim refuted by the police.
The most tragic case was that of a civilian who died on Eid. He left behind five daughters and his wife without any means of support. A part of the collected donation was shared with them, Rahman said.
The solidarity has come as swiftly as it has come surely. The government so far has not given anything to the victims. Even their chances of getting some compensation are bleak as the government forces, who are accused of razing and burning down the houses, have offered a few lakh rupees subject to the condition that the family should not be involved in any anti-government activity, a senior officer said on condition of anonymity.
“The maximum amount can go up to Rs 10 lakh, but only after a report about their non-involvement in any (anti-government) activity comes from the police,” he added.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz