Budgam: On December 11 at 11 am, 65-year-old Fatima Begum was washing vegetables inside her house in central Kashmir’s Budgam district when a bullet hit her right leg. It had pierced the roof of her house and had allegedly been fired by Air Force personnel during their routine firing drills.
In pain, Fatima fell unconscious on the floor. There was no one else in the house, so neighbours could only rush her to the hospital when they discovered her, much later.
Nasrullah, Fatima’s younger son, told The Wire that she was left disabled, mentally and physically, since her husband was killed by militants in 1993.
Fatima Begum of Budgam. Photo: By arrangement
When Fatima’s husband Rasool was killed, armed struggle was at its peak in Kashmir. A local militant named Babar Khan had allegedly fired a volley of bullets on Rasool’s body. Fatima had then reportedly pleaded with militants to spare her husband. But by the time Rasool was taken to Srinagar hospital, he had succumbed to his injuries. According to documents accessed by The Wire, police have it that the cause of Rasool’s death was bullet injury.
Nasrullah said the militant involved in the killing was held by police but released later.
“I was three-months-old when militants killed my father. I have been raised by my mother. We have been through a lot. Our life has been full of misery,” he said.
Nasrullah feels that his mother would have died from this incident had she been in a slightly different spot in the house. He still has the bloodied scarf with which his mother attempted to tie the wound when the bullet first hit her leg.
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Routine problem
The village of Wolina is located around 19 kms from Srinagar. The Air Force base camp is situated next to the Srinagar International Airport. On Friday, December 11, nearly every house in the village was hit by bullets, according to the villagers The Wire spoke to.
“Every house had a window shattered by a bullet. There were holes in every house. Some houses were damaged even worse,” alleged villager Mohammad Qasim.
Qasim claimed that in the past, scores of people have died due to heart-related ailments due to these firing drills. “The firing has put the fear of death in us,” he said.
The Budgam tehsildar recently sent a letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Budgam over the firing drills.
“This has become a daily routine of Air Force personnel to conduct their firing drill while violating norms and guidelines. Air Force personnel are firing aerially in the direction of Wolina village which has put the life of villagers at risk,” stated the letter, accessed by The Wire.
The letter also highlights the repeated complaints on the issue. “We have visited the affected village and have submitted recommendations to higher authorities but till date nothing has been done,” the tehsildar has written.
So far, no decision on this has been taken by the district administration.
“Scores of delegations met the district authorities demanding the closure of the firing site but nobody seems to care about our ordeal,” said Hasan Ali, a villager.
Representative image of the Srinagar air base. Photo: PTI
Protests
The injury to Fatima sparked protests in the area. Several people blocked the Budgam-Khansaheb Road demanding stern action against the Air Force personnel involved in the incident.
A villager, Murtaza Ali, said, “After Fatima, we don’t know who will be injured next.”
An FIR has been filed in the incident by the Budgam police station and sources say investigation has begun.
When The Wire tried to contact the concerned station house office for his comments, he did not answer repeated phone calls. When contacted, Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia asked this correspondent to read the police FIR and refused to comment further on this incident.
Shamshad Ali is a Srinagar-based journalist.