An embroidery artisan who created magic on fabric till a year ago and now shunned by neighbours as the army's “human shield” against stone-pelters, Farooq Ahmed Dar is a broken man, struggling to pick up the threads of his life.
Suffering from insomnia and depression, boycotted by villagers branding him a government agent and unable to find a job, even as a manual labourer, the 28-year-old says his life was upended exactly 12 months ago.
On 9 April 2017, a team led by Major Leetul Gogoi tied Dar to the bonnet of an army jeep to escape heavy stone pelting in central Kashmir's Budgam district, the image going on to make global headlines and spotlighting once again the civilian-security polarisation in the Valley.
It was election day in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency and Dar says he was on his way to cast his vote, braving the boycott call by separatist organisations. Eight people were killed in police firing on the day.
Investigations by central agencies and local police backed Dar's account of events of the day, blowing away the army's claim that he was a stone-pelter.