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When bullets shattered their dreams

Shujaat Bukhari

18-year-old victim of Army firing was a brilliant student and a promising cricketer

DHUDIPORA (HANDWARA ): Ghulam Hassan Bhat (18) killed in a shootout on Wednesday was not only a brilliant student but a promising cricketer as well.

He secured 73 per cent in the recent 12th standard examination and had aspired to play cricket at the national level.

"But the cruel hands of the Army snatched him away from me," said his mother Aisha. "Till late afternoon guests were coming to our house with sweets to greet us on his splendid performance in the examination," she added, breaking down. Aisha's dream was to make him a doctor. "He would always talk about cricket. He was a pace bowler in his team," said neighbour Tariq Iqbal.

Troops opened fire in Dhudipora suspecting militants to be holed up there.

The unintended victim was Hassan. Thousands of protesters brought his body and those of three others killed in the firing to theSrinagar-Kupwara highway on Thursday to demand stern action against the security forces.

Hail of bullets

Hassan was carrying eight-year-old Shakir in his arms across the rivulet when the hail of bullets came, killing them both.

The victim's father Ghulam Rasool, brothers Bashir Ahmed and Abdul Ahad and sisters Haleema and Rubeena looked stunned. "There is no militant in the area. The Army's version is a white lie," said his brother.

Rasool said he had worked hard to educate him and "was planning to send him to college."Shakir's mother, Sarwa, was inconsolable. "He was a little kid who had gone to witness a cricket match and he was brought home dead."

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When bullets shattered their dreams

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