Cameraperson: Syed Shahriyar
Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan
Producer: Vatsala Singh
Adil Ahmed Yadoo stitched schoolbags to support his parents and four siblings. He was only 18, and had recently given his class 10 board exams.
Even before his result could come out, he lost his life when he was mowed down by a police vehicle. In clashes following the Chattbal encounter in Srinagar, a police vehicle ran him over as he was protesting.
He is a recent addition to the growing list of civilians who have died in anti-militancy operations in Kashmir.
Shortly after the encounter ended, a video surfaced on social media of Yadoo being run over by a police vehicle. He can be seen running after a security vehicle to pelt a stone, and then being run over by another truck behind him. As he is crushed by the second vehicle, gunshots can be heard in the background and he is then lifted by other protesters, but was declared ‘brought dead’ at the hospital.
Adil’s elder brother Arif told The Quint that because of the video, people can see his death for what it is – not a road accident. Without it, he says, no one would have believed them.
Recalling how he found out about his son’s death, Ghulam Ahmad said, “I was going to get vegetables for the house when someone came to me and said, ‘your son has been martyred’. I have no memory of what happened after that.”
They killed my son mercilessly. I saw it on a mobile phone how they crushed him. They killed my son, they will kill rest of the kids too.Ghulam Ahmad Yadoo, Adil’s Father
“My son was well-behaved. He offered namaaz five times a day. If someone was sick in the family, he would do all the running around,” said Adil’s mother Mirsa.
The entire family lives in a tiny wooden house in Gasi Mohalla of Safa Kadal. They had taken a loan for a piece of land, banking on Adil to pay it off. With him gone, his mother doesn’t know what to do.
Road Accident or a Deliberate Act?
In its first response, the Jammu and Kashmir police declared Adil’s death a road accident.
But the state government and locals said it seemed deliberate.
Condemning the “killing”, Jammu and Kashmi CM Mehbooba Mufti asked J&K Police to punish the guilty. In a statement, Mehbooba said, “Whose interests are we serving by killing these civilians? This plunges our society into chaos and uncertainty.”
Later, IG Kashmir SP Pani assured that action would be taken against the erring police officer driving the vehicle. A case has been filed against him.
Civilian Deaths
In the attempt to crack down on militancy, many civilians have lost their lives.
I have grown up watching people getting killed around me. First they hit us, then they brought pellet guns, and now this. What about Kashmir’s future? Why doesn’t anybody think about Kashmir’s youth? Where are all the men? All buried now.Arif Ahmad Yadoo, Elder Brother
Adil lies buried in the main ‘Martyr’s’ Graveyard at Eidgah.
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