Thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of two Hizbul Mujahideen militants and a civilian in three different villages of Shopian district on Thursday. To accommodate the massive rush of people five back to back funeral prayers were held for the trio before they were laid to rest. The three were killed Wednesday.
By early afternoon people participated in the funeral prayers of slain civilian Shakir Ahmad Mir at his native Kalampora hamlet of Shopian. 17 year old Shakir was killed when government forces on Wednesday evening allegedly opened fire on locals near the encounter site, leaving one civilian dead and two girls injured.
Two militants Sameer Ahmad Wani alias Maviya and Firdous Ahmad Lone alias Umar Bhai, were killed in a gunfight with government forces at Chaigund village of the district on Wednesday night. 13 sheep and a calf were also burnt when shells rocked the cowshed where militants were trapped.
As per locals, Sameer joined the militant ranks in September 2017 while as his associate had joined militancy after the killing of slain Hizb commander Burhan Wani.
Both militants belonged to well-off families. According to locals, Sameer was perusing graduation before joining militancy while Firdous worked as government employee in health department.
Five rounds of funeral prayers were held for both the militants at their ancestral villages of Odoo and Ganawpora.
Braving chill people from dozens of villages of Pulwama and Shopian started arriving in Chaigund village soon after the news about the killing of militants broke out.
Amid pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, thousands of people bid final adieu to Sameer and Firdous. Some local pro-freedom leaders also participated in the funerals and later addressed a huge gathering.
Families of local militants, killed earlier, also participated in the funeral and later visited the residences of both the militants to pay condolences to their families.
The bodies of militants Sameer and Firdous were taken to local graveyards where thousands of people participated in the last rites. Large number of people assembled outside the house of Firdous and chanted pro-freedom and pro-Pakistani slogans. Dozens of women showered rose petals and candies on their bodies from the rooftops and windows of their homes.
The women were weeping amid slogans “Hizbul Mujahideen ka kya paigam, Kashmir banega Pakistan”, even as local masjids reverberated with pro-freedom and pro-Hizb slogans.
Complete shutdown was observed across Shopian and Pulwama districts to mourn the killing of two militants and the civilian.
Mobile Internet and train service remained suspended in Shopian and Pulwama. The Internet service as per an official was suspended on Wednesday evening “as a precautionary measure”.
Two militants, Teen laid to rest after five back to back funeral prayers in Shopian
