And They Cry For No One To Hear....

Rafeeqa with three sons and a daughter has been searching for her husband, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, since the last 13 years who was taken from his home one fine night at 1:00 am in 1997. No one has heard about him and nobody claims to know about his whereabouts. The Battalion of army that took him away from his home and family after beating him up infront of his family denied having any information regarding the person. The battalion is no more in the valley and with their departure died every last hope of the reunion of the family with Mushtaq. The family now pleads to atleast be able to perform the final rites of Mushtaq.


The children often ask their mother where their father is and if he is going to return or not. They ask if he is dead or alive but Rafeeqa does not know what to say for she is not sure herself.



Raeth’s son was accused by the army of selling shoes to the terrorists as he owned a footwear shop. Her son was also picked up from his home, from his bedroom while his son and wife were sleeping just besides him. The army, as the family alleges, dragged Raeth’s son by holding on his hair at 2:00 am in the morning of some date, which is of little significance to her, of 1997 . Raeth claims to have searched all the possible camps and jails but all in vain. Officers claimed to know the whereabouts of her son and guzzled about 8 lakh rupees all to go waste.

.She continues to have hallucinations of hearing her son come back or calling on to her. Raeth wonders if her son is alive and whether he craves to meet his family or not. Wonders if she will ever be able to see her son just one more time. Cries for her grand children who will never be able to see their father ever and for not being able to even perform the final rites of her son.



Since Saima’s brother went missing, she has lost her mental balance and so has her brother’s. She is now a middle aged woman with slightly whitening hair near the hairline but her mind is still stuck up somewhere in the past. She is more shy than a 10 year old and she behaves like a kid. She refuses to pray or let her mother do so because she says it is all in vain. She refuses to meet people or talk about her missing brother. I thought I imagined it but while I was talking to Saima I did hear her mother wail and cry. A cry not of disappointment but of helplessness and a broken heart.