He joined militant ranks after being regularly tortured by police: Friends
Mother of the slain Hizbul Mujahideen militant Dawood Sheikh, said she was proud of her martyr son, whose only inspiration to pick up arms was Islam.
“I won’t shed any tears because my son has achieved whatever he dreamt of,” Parveena said.
Parveena, a widow, said her son was acutely aware of the fact that being the eldest of her children he did not share the responsibility of the family.
“A couple of days back he came to meet me. He apologized for not taking care of me,” she said adding, “He has promised to meet me in the paradise and I believe him”.
“I have no regrets on Dawood getting martyred,” she said.
Parveena said her son was a staunch practicing Muslim and held his religion in utmost priority.
She said although he was very good at studies and wanted to be an engineer, religion was always his first priority. “My son used to wake up in the dead of the night to pray.”
Eldest among six siblings, including two sisters, Dawood was a class 12th student when he chose to join militant ranks allegedly after being repeatedly picked up by police for being a stone thrower.
Qaimoh area in Kulgam has over the years emerged as hot bed of militancy and anti-India street protests, where stone pelting has been very frequent.
“He was an engineering aspirant but he was not destined to be one,” one of Dawood’s friend told.
He said Dawood was frequently picked up and tortured by forces on charges of stone pelting and it was one such day when he chose to break loose.
“He was picked up for questioning in July 2014 and released by noon that day,” said one of Dawood’s mourning friends.
Later, in the same afternoon, Dawood shot dead a former Ikhwani turned Territorial army man in Larm Ganjipora village near his home Qaimoh and went on to join militants.
SP Kulgam, Mumtaz Ahmad, told that Dawood was involved in militancy incidents including killings during his two years of being a militant.
“He was involved in the killing of a retired Deputy Superintendent of police in Ashmuji village of Kulgam in July 2015,” he said.
Dawood’s friends and family said he was deeply affected by the injustice in the valley and the unrests of 2008 and 2010 were the real turning points in his life.
“He was a keen observer and during the turmoil of 2008 and 2010, he was only a 14 year old. However, he was deeply affected by the turn of events and the brutality with which the protests were crushed by police and paramilitary personnel,” said a childhood friend of Dawood.
