An eerie calm prevailed at Ganai Mohalla in Chadoora of Budgam on Monday, with the local people reluctant to speak.
The silence at the two-storey house of Sharief-ud-Din, who was among the five CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack on Sunday, was intermittently broken by the cries of his ageing father.
As people consoled him, he repeated the lines: “May I sacrifice my life for your name, reflecting both your humbleness and harmlessness. You were true to your name, Sharief.”
“Why did you leave me? What will I do in his world now,” asked the father, unable to come to terms with the loss.
The 32-year-old jawan, who had two sisters and three brothers, was close to his father, a farmer. Sharief joined the 185 Battalion of the CRPF in 2006. He was hit by militants’ bullets in the head and the neck.
“It was a bolt from the blue,” his brother said.
Many people turned up for the funeral on Sunday evening.
‘Difficult times’
The family ensured that no relative spoke to the media. “These are volatile times for Kashmir. These are difficult times for us, too,” said a relative, on condition of anonymity. He said the family had seen tough times financially in the past decade. “Constable Sharief-ud-Din’s recruitment did help the family to meet their ends,” he said.
One of Sharief-ud-Din’s friends said he maintained “a friendly relationship with all and distanced himself from discussing politics to stay safe”.
Chadoora has witnessed volatile protests in 2016 and 2017. Three protesters died as people marched to disrupt an operation against militants in March in 2017.
Another slain CRPF jawan, Taufail Ahmad, a resident of Rajouri’s Dadasini Bala, was buried on Monday. “The last rites were performed around noon,” CRPF spokesman Rajesh Yadav said.
Ahmad’s son Anees told a new agency that action should be taken against Pakistan.
“Militancy has not ended. Our jawans are continuing to sacrifice their lives. Please do something,” Mr. Anees was quoted as saying.
The bodies of all five personnel were send home. The CRPF said one of them, Kuldip Roy of Tikkar Khatrian at Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, had died of a cardiac arrest.
