KNZ NEWS DESK
Kupwara: “Our engagement was held four years ago in which all our relatives and friends and neighbours participated. In the month of September our parents were going to fix the date of marriage, which was scheduled to be held in the month of November last year. But it was unfortunate for all (my parents and for me) that Manzoor was detained by the army and for the past four and a half months he is missing. However, I hope he will return and we will marry each other. I appeal to the government of Jammu and Kashmir to use their influence to free my groom. Otherwise, I will not marry any other man.”
These are the words of Mehrun Nisa, whose fiancé Manzoor Ahmed has been missing ever since the army took him into custody at their 27 RR camp in Kupwara on August 31 last year. Police have filed a case against the army and Manzoor’s family has also gone to the High Court, but the army continues to deny that it took Manzoor into custody and claims it has no knowledge of his whereabouts.
Manzoor along with another resident of Kupwara’s Dewar village, Nasrulla Khan, was taken to the army’s 27 RR camp when a group of people were protesting at an army check post. The next day, on August 28, when people from all walks of life held a protest outside the camp, Nasrulla was found in the evening in the woods behind the army camp, bleeding and dying. He spent three months in a Srinagar hospital. Manzoor is still missing.
Last month, Manzoor’s family filed a case in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against the army. The police submitted a preliminary report before the court saying Manzoor was detained by the army and has since been missing.
While talking to Kashmir Reader, Mehrun Nisa said that she was hopeful Manzoor will return this year and she will marry him.
Abdul Latif Khan, the father of Mehrun Nisa, said: “I have no words to describe what happened. I can’t understand what to do. The army should make it clear if they have killed Manzoor or only injured him. And where can we find him?”
A relative of Manzoor who was to be his best man on the wedding day, said, “I think he was seriously injured in custody and the army shifted him to some hospital for treatment and they will free him soon. But sometimes when we count the days since he has been missing, we find ourselves losing hope. But if he is dead, why do they not hand over his body to us? Or have they thrown away his body at some place? The government should put pressure on them to give us at least his body or free him if he is alive. If he is at any hospital, inform us.”
