At Dy Commissioner's office which has facility for STD/ISD calls. (Shuaib Masoodi)HADIYA'S father left home, in Mazhama village near Srinagar, on July 18 for Haj. Less than a month later, came the abrogation of Article 370, stripping J&K of special status, followed by a complete communications clampdown in Kashmir.
He had been speaking to his family almost every day on video call since July 25, telling them to “stay safe” as troops mobilisation in the Valley led to all kinds of rumours. The last call was on August 4, when he promised Hadiya, the youngest of his three children, that he would call her again the next day. Then, the phones went dead.
Mother Yasmeena says as Eid approached, on August 12, Hadiya, a Class 9 student, became more and more quiet, seeking to talk to her father. “She didn't even celebrate Eid,” says Yasmeena, who said she didn't want her family to be photographed or her husband named.
On Eid, residents crowded around Armymen to make calls. (@PIBHomeAffairs Twitter handle)On August 19, there was the first ray of hope. A neigbour told them that the government had set up facilities at a police station at Parimpora in Srinagar for people to make calls. But the police station was 13 km away.
Despite restrictions, Yasmeena says, “We didn't wait a minute… Hadiya took out her Scooty, I sat pillion, and we started for Parimpora. All three of my daughters ride the Scooty but since Hadiya is closest to her father, she…
