Slain Sagir Ahmed, a carpenter from UP, went to work in Kashmir to pay off the debt he incurred for his wife’s COVID treatment
Six months ago, Sagir Ahmed from Saharanpur lost his wife to COVID19. He had taken a huge loan for her treatment and went to Pulwama in J&K to earn money and pay off the debt. However, the 58-year-old was gunned down on October 16 while he was on his way back from work.
Sagir Ahmed, a skilled carpenter from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, left home two and a half months ago to find work in distant Jammu and Kashmir. He travelled 700 kilometres away from his home to Pulwama in J&K where he found work at a private firm.
But, on October 16, the 58-year-old migrant worker died a brutal death.
“He was on his way home after work [in Pulwama] when terrorists shot him down, and he died,” Nayeem Ahmed, Sagir’s cousin told Gaon Connection.
At his home in Mohalla Sarai Hisamuddin in Saharanpur, but for the sound of a baby crying in the background, there is no other sound, as the womenfolk of Sagir’s family pray silently.
A day after Sagir was gunned down in J&K by suspected militants, yesterday on October 17, two more non-local migrant labourers, from Bihar – Raja Reshi Dev and Joginder Reshi Dev – were shot dead in Kulgam, about 70 kilometres away from Srinagar. A third migrant worker, Chunchun Reshi Dev, has been injured.
The Kashmir Police issued a directive late last evening asking district heads to move all non-local migrant workers to the nearest security camps of armed forces. In a message flashed to all district police, Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) said, “All non-local labourers in your respective jurisdiction should be brought to the nearest police or central paramilitary force or army establishment just now…The matter is most urgent.”
Sadly, this move came too late for Sagir Ahmed.
The month of October is not over yet, and already, terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir have claimed the lives of 11 civilians (two of them yesterday, October 17), most of them poor migrant workers from other states, including Bihar, who had travelled there to earn a living.
Sagir Ahmed has left behind a family of four daughters and a son. One of the daughters is unmarried. His wife died of COVID19 six months ago.
“As you can see for yourself, the financial situation of the family is not good,” Nayeem Ahmed, Sagir’s cousin told Gaon Connection over phone. “He would go wherever he found work. He has worked in Delhi and Jaipur, and also in Kashmir for a year and a half, but he returned home during the pandemic, when his wife fell ill,” the cousin narrated.
“After his wife died of corona, Sagir went to Kashmir two months ago to earn enough to repay the loans he had taken to treat his wife, and to save money for his fourth daughter’s wedding,” he added. According to Nayeem, the pay for his carpentry work was good in Kashmir.
Sagir chose to go to far away J&K, despite the ever present danger to civilians there. “Had there been work for him at home, why would he go anywhere,” Nayeem asked.
Sagir’s son Jahangir is a carpenter like his late father, and he did not find work at home either. The 30-year-old works in Barmer in Rajasthan to earn money to feed the family. Jahangir is married and has a young daughter. Sagir’s unmarried daughter, 20-year-old Shobhi, lives along with her sister-in-law and niece at Saharanpur.
Sagir’s brother Nadeem Ahmed and son-in-law Shamsad, had to collect money from his neighbours in order to travel to Kashmir to bring his body back home, Nayeem said.
Sagir’s body reached home today (October 18) morning at 6 am and his final rites were completed by 9 am, Nayeem informed Gaon Connection.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Sagir’s brother Nadeem, once again referred to the dire financial straits of the family left behind.
“We hope the government will provide a job to Sagir’s son Jahangir, and extend financial help,” he appealed. “That way he will not have to travel so far away from home to earn a living for his family,” he added.