Kashmiri youth’s suicide brings up region’s agony once again

June 8, 2021

Avil (Kulgam): Mohammad Abbas Chopan (24) reminisces every agonised moment that his friend Shoaib Bashir had to undergo for the last two years.

A cricket enthusiast Shoaib who was frequently spotted in the village’s grounds playing once had turned into a lonelier now. Shoaib instead had taken up driving tractor ferrying loads of gravel and sand. This all to earn some bucks, since all resources of Shoaib’s family had dried up following the salary of his father Bashir Ahmad Mir, a government teacher, was stopped by the authorities.

The death of Shoaib has sent shockwaves particularly at a time when authorities in J&K are after government employees, who they claim are involved in “subversive activities”. At least half a dozen employees including teachers have been terminated recently from their services for indulging in “anti state” activities.

The misery of the family is mired in Kashmir’s quagmire. During the 90’s when boys from Kashmir went across the border for arms training in Pakistan, Mir was also among them. Later, Mir was arrested by security forces from Srinagar’s Parimpora area in 1995. He served a three year jail period before court acquitted him of all charges and ordered his release in 1999.

In 2005 Mir found employment with J&K Board of School Education as “education volunteer” under centrally sponsored scheme Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) working on a monthly remuneration of Rs 1000. Later, in 2008 teachers like Mir were categorised under the Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) scheme, following which they were regularised in 2013 as general line teachers—with decent salaries.

Mir was regularised after a mandatory police verification report. The police verification report of March 1, 2014, found him “not taking part in any militancy/subversive activities.”

Another simultaneous verification report of Mir carried out at the same time in 2014 by intelligence, security and civilian administration noted :“The committee was satisfied with the character/behaviour of the surrendered militant (Mir).

The ordeal of the family started in 2019 when the government announced re-verification of its employees working in different departments including teachers.

The verification came to haunt Mir. The verification process conducted by police in February 2019 claimed the subject (Mir) was formerly affiliated with a militant outfit, while his brother identified as Umer Ahmad Mir had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and was active there.

However, it was later found that Mir had no brother by the name of Umer Ahmad. The issue was later clarified and Mir was given a clean chit saying “he (Mir) is presently silent and is busy with his job”. Despite this, the salary ofMir was not released.

On May 28, in a video that went viral on social media Shoaib announced: “I am sacrificing myself for all those teachers who have been deprived of salary for two-and-a-half years now, so that their problems are solved — not just of my father but also those (others) without their salaries. Our father’s salary has been withheld for two-and-a-half years and our life has become miserable beyond words.”

“This is injustice. Despite verifications given to my father, his salary was withheld,” says Ahsan Bashir, younger son of Mir, who is a B-Tech graduate.

Shoaib’s friend Chopan says the victim had consumed insecticide to end his life.

“The last two years changed him completely. Due to penury he preferred to study through online mode,” says Chopan.

At the dimly lit room of Shoaib, the charts of various upcoming examinations for various government posts scheduled this year are pasted. It includes a list of various UPSC and other J&K UT level examinations scheduled this year.

Following the incident, the J&K government released Rs 33 crores as payment for 630 teachers, whose salaries were being withheld in view of incomplete documents and verification, including of Shoaib’s father from the last more than two years.

Indianewstream tried to reach Director School Education Tassaduq Hussain Mir for his comments. However, he didn’t respond. His comments will be updated once he responds.

The family accuses J&K’s Education Department including its then director Younis Malik for their son’s death. “We had no source of income, our debt was only mounting. There were regular calls from the bank.

Besides, we had taken a debt of some Rs 10 lakh from our relatives. Despite the salary of my husband being withheld, he never gave his duty a miss,” says Shoaib’s mother Jameela Akhter.

In the current pandemic Akhter says her husband would ensure that he would trek all the way to the remotest village where he is posted to teach students, since there is no availability of internet there.

“Don’t authorities take notice of all this. I don’t think so. If they would take notice, my son would have been alive today. I remember his mud soaked feet and loose sand over his clothes,” says Akhter.

“My son was studying psychology. He would lecture others on the importance of life. But people at the helm who remain blind make people turn atrocious,” says Akhter as she breaks down.

Besides, the family is also relating their son’s to Kashmir’s “inadequate and deficient” health care. “We shifted him to five hospitals from local PHC to GMC Anantnag and then to Srinagar’s SMHS. Much time was lost while the oxygen level of Shoaib kept dropping. He was all pale. Had there been specialists and high flow oxygen available at GMC Anantnag, he could have been saved,” said Muzammil Rashid, Shoaib’s cousin, who is pursuing medicine from GMC Jammu.

The death of Shoaib have particularly traumatised his friend Chopan, who is having nightmares and has not left his friend’s home since his death.

In the evening on May 26, a message propped up on Chopan’s phone screen. It was from his friend Shoaib.
“Meray phone ma aak video ha uss ko upload karna hahii…Khud ma na banaya fb pay dalna…(There is a video in my phone which has to be uploaded. I have made it myself. It has to be uploaded on Facebook.) Stay blessed,” reads the message.

–INDIA NEWS STREAM