|
|
|
| October 24, 2005 | Monday | Ramzan 19, 1426 |
Last rites of man from Jammu performed
MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 23: The last rites of a Kashmiri Hindu who had travelled by the trans-Kashmir bus and died in the Oct 8 earthquake were performed near here on Sunday, officials said.
Basti Ram Tandon, 73, had arrived here with his elder brother Jagdish Lal Tandon, 75, and nephew Subhash Tandon, 47, on Oct 6 by the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus to visit their ancestral town of Hattian Dopatta, some 25 kilometres south of here, and meet their Muslim relatives living there.
Like other parts of Kashmir, Hattian Dopatta was also severely hit by the earthquake two days after their arrival. The Tandons were trapped in rubble of the building they were staying in. Jagdish Lal and his son Subhash were recovered from the debris with multiple wounds but Mr Basti Ram could not be rescued.
The father-son duo was airlifted to Islamabad about a week ago where they were treated in a private hospital and sent to their home in Jammu through Wagah border on Oct 21. The body of Basti Ram was found on Saturday, 15 days after the first jolt of quake, by army engineers, an ISPR official told Dawn here.
Basti Ram’s son was in touch with the South Asia Free Media Association (Safma) office-bearers in Lahore to collect the body of his father. Safma people had also spoken to AJK President Sardar Mohammad Anwar Khan and he had assured that the AJK government would fully facilitate relatives of the deceased if they travelled to Muzaffarabad to cremate his body here or in Jammu.
However, the army spokesman said since the body was decomposing it was decided in consultation with his family members to perform his last rites here in Azad Kashmir.
He said Muslim relatives of the deceased, including his distant cousin Sheikh Maqbool, also reached the devastated town and took instructions from Mr Basti Ram’s family in Jammu regarding the funeral, following which his body draped in a white coffin was cremated.
In Jammu, deceased Basti Ram’s son performed the last rites of his father at their home in Bakhshi Nagar by setting ablaze his effigy.
|
|
|
|
