Srinagar: A mother’s appeal to her son – to give up terrorism – and return home, fell on deaf ears.
Jana Begum died and was laid to rest three days ago. But her son Riaz Ahmed was not among the pall bearers, despite his mother’s last wishes.
“Come back, take care of me. If I die, shoulder my coffin”. Jana Begum had appealed to her son a few months ago. Her appeal went unheeded by her son Riaz, who had joined the ranks of the Hizbul Mujahideen, with no intention to return home.
Mothers have a special status in Kashmiri society and several they have often brought back their wayward sons from the clutches of terror outfits such as the Hizbul, Jaish-e-Mohamed and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Lt Gen KJS Dhillon (retd), former DG,
Defence Intelligence Agency, had acknowledged this fact when he commanded the XV Corps in Kashmir. He had urged mothers in the state to ask their sons to give up arms and return to the mainstream.
The strategy worked to an extent, with several terrorists laying down arms. Some of them turned into vital assets for the security forces.
Jana’s plea went unheard though. Riaz had left home 15 years ago to join the terrorist organisation and now carries a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head.
Months ago, Jana had made a heart-rending appeal to her son, saying, “What kind of jihad is this, where parents are abandoned.”
Her husband Mohammad Ramzan had also joined her plea, urging their son to shun the path of violence.
When Jana was laid to rest, Riaz was not present. His absence served as a stark reminder of the devastating toll of terrorism.
“We’ve lost two generations, and now they are consuming our third one by indoctrinating and brain washing them using social media,” NDTV quoted a security force officer as saying.
Jana was among the countless mothers in Kashmir to wait in vain for their children to return.