Srinagar: In a tragic coincidence, one-year-old Daamin and four-year-old Uhbaan lost their father, Jammu and Kashmir Police officer Arshad Ahmed Khan, on a Father’s Day.
As the body of Khan, who breathed his last at AIIMS in Delhi on Sunday evening, was brought to the police lines here on Monday, Uhbaan was unable to gauge the tragedy.
Held by his maternal uncle at the wreath-laying ceremony, Uhbaan, too young to understand the magnitude of the tragedy that has fallen on him, woke from a slumber with the bugler playing the ‘last post’ and guard calling for ‘shok salami shastra’ (reversing of arms in honour of fallen soldiers).
The police band was playing ‘Wattan ki raah mein wattan ke naujaan shaeed ho (many youths have sacrificed their lives for nation)’, a song from ‘Shaheed’, the 1948 movie starring Dilip Kumar.
His brother Daamin, who is just 18-month old, was home and he had to play the role of an elder son at this tender age.
He was carried by SSP Srinagar, Dr Haseeb Mughal near the coffin of his father where he placed flowers.
Uhbaan also gave the last salute to his father before he was taken to his home in the civil lines area near Karan Nagar.
K Vijay Kumar, the Advisor to the Governor, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh, Additional Director General of Police B Srinivas and Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Swayam Prakash Pani were the pallbearers.
Hundreds of people gathered at Khan’s house to have a last glance of the fallen police officer.
Daamin could be seen looking into eyes of the mourners and often greeted the known faces with smiles.
Born to Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and Mehbooba Begum in Balgardan Srinagar, Khan was appointed as Sub-Inspector in Jammu and Kashmir Police in 2002 and served in various important capacities.
During the 2016 agitation following the death of Burhan Wani, the poster boy of Hizbul Mujahideen, Khan, who was then posted as Station House Officer of Bijbehara, single-handedly cleared the highway and ensured that there was no traffic restriction, officials said.
They said Khan, whose ancestors were from Peshawar in Pakistan, never succumbed to political pressure and was shifted from Bijbehara after he had rounded off many so-called activists of a political party.
Khan had suffered injuries in last Wednesday’s militant attack in Anantnag in which five CRPF personnel were killed by a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant, who targeted a patrol team of the paramilitary force.
Khan, who was posted in the volatile south Kashmir for some years now, “was a brilliant operational officer”, recalled one of his senior officers. (With PTI Inputs)
Floral tributes paid to SHO Arshad Khan
Srinagar, Jun 17: Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel have laid down their lives for peace and tranquility in the state and the attrition will only steel our resolve, Advisor to the Governor K Vijay Kumar said here on Monday.
He paid floral tributes to police officer Arshad Khan who was injured in a militant attack in Anantnag on June 12. He was admitted to AIIMS in New Delhi, where he succumbed to injuries on Sunday.
Kumar said the officer had shown exemplary bravery by rushing to the spot of the attack to rescue CRPF men who had come under firing by the militants.
“The J&K Police and all of the security forces have made enormous sacrifices. This attrition will steel our resolve. More than 1,600 SPOs (special police officers) and policemen of the J&K Police have laid their lives down fighting for peace and tranquility. So, we will be at it with all resolve,” Kumar told reporters.
“We are all comrades in arms. There is no difference between the CRPF, ITBP, SSB, the Army, the BSF and the local police. We are limbs of the same organ. We are working very organically together and this gentleman Arshad (Khan), within three-four minutes, rushed to the spot to the rescue of his fellow men,” he said.
“So, this is part of J-K synergy. We have deep admiration for it and in fact in New Delhi, the ceremony was organised by the DG CRPF and all the representatives of all the other paramilitary forces took part. That itself signifies the kind of mutual affection and the kind of synergy there is,” he said.
Director General of Police Dilbag Singh and senior officers of police, other security forces and civil administration also paid floral tributes to Khan at District Police Lines here.
