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Dardpora - a village of widows, orphans
From Muzaffar Raina
The Kashmir Times, Dec 26, 2001
KRALIPORA (KUPWARA), Dec 25: The entry into a thatched house of late
Mangta Khan in one
of the villages in this belt - Dardopra, leaves any visitor shocked.
It is a no male family which over
the last few years has lost all the three adults to violence. It is a
family where every member is
either a widow or an orphan.
This, however, is not a source of shock for the locals. Perhaps,
because this village hosts an
army of widows and orphans. "Some 200 persons from this village have
been killed and every
family you come across have lost a member or a close relative. The
number of orphans is more
than 400. Perhaps, it was named Dardpora - the village of sufferings
by our ancestors as they
knew its fate would be so", narrates Haji Gulam Qadir Mir, village head.
The village with around a dozen odd hamlets has some 10,000
residents. Majority of the
deceased, the villagers said, were killed by security forces or
pro-government militants. "A good
number of militants also died in group clashes while many fell to the
bullets of militants as well",
they said.
Every family here has a tale of woes to relate. But for Mangta's
family there is no end to
sufferings. His son Amjad, a top Al Barq commander, was the first to
fall to the bullets in the
family and he was allegedly killed by Hizbul Mujahideen militants in
a group clash. "My grand
father Mangta Khan and uncle Hassan Khan", were killed by security
forces, said Shakeela
Bano, 14 year old daughter of Amjad.
A spate of tribulations left little scope for happiness. "We
cultivate the meagre land we have and
make a modest livelihood. At times we are given alms", she said. With
no male to look after four
daughters and a son of Amjad, they are living by bits. For imparting
education to their only
younger brother Iqbal, all of them work hard. Four sisters, however,
never went to school.
Around 60 year old Rajwali is one of the latest victims of violence.
His widow Noor Begum said
he was killed by militants. "Life was already tough for us but after
his death it is difficult for me to
run the family", she said. Noor has eight children including five
daughters.
During the hey days of militancy in this area a number of youth died
in group clashes.
Shamsuddin Pagwal, an Al Barq militant was one among them. Also, the
victims are both young
and old. Septuagenarian Mir Alam Khatana, killed by unidentified
gunmen, is its eldest victim.
For some the death dawned with more pain. "My son was abducted by
unidentified gunmen. His
decomposed body was recovered three months latter", said Zulekhan.
Apart from those killed, the locals said, around 10 locals have gone
missing. "Master Ali
Mohammad is one among those. We have no information whether they are
dead or alive", said
the village head.
As if the man-made hardships were not enough, natural tragedies also
struck at intervals. "We
are facing a severe drought for last two years", said Mahad Peer, a
local.
Locked in mountains, these villagers continue to reel under
sufferings and the outside world, they
said, is oblivious to all this. "It is very difficult for widows and
their orphans to live this painful life.
Alms collected from within the village gives them some respite", said
Mir.
Separatists including Hurriet, they said, never made their appearance
in this village. "Those killed
by militants have received the ex-gretia relief from the government",
Mir added.
Considered the hub of militancy, Kupwara district has witnessed ups
and downs of militancy at
different periods of time. Death, however, always continued to knock
the doors of this village.
Molvi Mohammad Akbar, Imam Jamia Dardpora, is the latest victim, who
was allegedly killed by
Ikhwanis.
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