If Muneera Bano’s militant son had been killed in a gunfight with the armed forces, life would have been easier for her and her family, she...
If Muneera Bano’s militant son had been killed in a gunfight with the armed forces, life would have been easier for her and her family, she said.
Bano, 52, is the mother of Tariq Ahmad Pandit, the only surviving militant in the widely-circulated photograph of a group of 11 local militants led by Burhan Wani.
As Kashmir experienced a new wave of militancy in the middle of last decade, the photograph – which went viral on social media in 2015 – showed a group of young men in army fatigues, weapons in hand, posing in a huddle around Hizbul Mujahideen commander Wani. The image was seen as an iconic representation of Kashmir’s new age militancy.
Over the years, all the militants posing in the picture, including Wani, were killed in encounters with the security forces. Only Bano’s son is alive. Tariq Ahmad Pandit, 24, has been in prison since 2016.
For Bano, it has been hard to decide whether that is a blessing or a curse.
“If he had been martyred, we wouldn’t be this enfeebled mentally and financially,” said Bano, as she recalled her experiences with her only son. “It wouldn’t have bothered me if he had been martyred. We wouldn’t have gone through this much.”
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