SRINAGAR: Eight-year-old daughter of slain Assistant Sub-Inspector Abdul Rasheed Shah of Jammu and Kashmir police, still waits for her father’s return.
55-year-old Abdul Rasheed, who lost his life in an encounter with militants in Anantnag town on August 28 last year was unarmed when he received bullet in his abdomen and succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment.
The inconsolably picture of Zohra at her father’s wreath-laying ceremony has come to represent the tragedy faced by Kashmir’s children. The haunting image of little girl still in her school uniform with her hands covered with henna had went viral on social media and moved many.
Zohra, who is Abdul Rasheed’s youngest child and for the little child her father was her world hasn’t still been able to come to terms that he has gone forever.
A year on, her family has managed to convince the little child that her father has gone for Hajj and will return one day and Zohra eventually appears to be convinced but said, “This time, I will not leave Papa,” reported a leading news agency.
After Shah’s death, the family is under financial crisis. Cricketer Gautam Gambhir who pledged to support the education of the young child, who wanted to become a doctor also made calls to the family at times. “We do get a call from (Gautam) Gambhir sir at times. He asks about Zohra and ensures that her fee at the school is paid for,” Shah’s elder daughter Bilkees told PTI.
A song from the 1967 film Taqdeer – “Papa jaldi aa jana” is Zohra’s favourite song.