For many in violence-hit Kashmir, pellets and mortars have caused damage that will stay with them for their lives. Six-year-old Fayaz Ahmad is one such child whose life has changed forever because of the horrors of this never-ending war in the Valley.
Fayaz was just three when he lost his sister after a mortar shell exploded outside his house. However, it was not just his sister that he lost on that ill-fated day.
Unable to find a school for their child in Kashmir's Budgam district, Fayaz’s parents –Reyaz Ahmad and Fidousa, who are both labourers – moved their base and shifted to Srinagar to find good education for him. They moved to a rented single room in Srinagar's Batmaloo area and set out on a quest to find him a school.
However, for three months now, they have struggled to get Fayaz admission in a school. The parents say they were turned away by two private schools even after intervention by the director of education.
Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, who is the Director of Education, Kashmir, has acknowledged that he knew about the case and has been trying to get the child admitted in a school.
Meanwhile, the state's Education Minister Naeem Akhtar told NDTV that the denial of admission is unacceptable and that action will be taken against the schools concerned.
(Source: NDTV)
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