Kashmir Scan 05 | Page 25

Lolaab '.

It was in midsummer 1995 that a bomb had exploded in the heart district Kupwara; many army personnel were badly injured and some even lost their lives. Investigations were going on and with every passing second, anger was clouding the judgment of Army men. Someone reported that a man from Gangabugh was seen with a remote control minutes before the blast. After a few days it was acknowledged that the so called ' remote control ' was actually a radio, but it was too late till then. The damage was already done; many people injured and many more harassed. The story I pertain to marked an agonizing epoch in the history of Gangabugh, if there is any.

An army truck stopped in the outskirts of our village and scores of army men jumped out from it. Everyone was summoned out of their houses and assembled in a huge ground. Those who exhibited even a slightest hint of susceptibility were harshly dealt with.

A woman was asked about the whereabouts of her husband and when she refused to share any information, one army man grabbed her by scruff and dragged her from one end of the ground to the other. He slapped her many times before hitting her head against a wall. The women bled and writhed in pain, she kept on chanting,“ Khudayoo Bachao Khudayoo Bachao”.

Men kept watching- as if their hands were tied with an invisible rope- while their wives, mothers and daughters were trampled over and their soul crushed. Women mourned as their sons, brothers and husbands were beaten up.

But even in all this pandemo- nium, there was serenity enveloped by love. People were mourning for one another. For some time, they had become selfless. They say the lan- guage of pain is universal and that scenario bared testimony to the very fact.

A brave man pushed one of the