Other States - Jammu & Kashmir

Bed-ridden for life, yet hopeful

By Shujaat Bukhari

BIJBEHARA (South Kashmir) APRIL 24. Javed Ahmed Tak is one of the worst-hit victims of violence which has overlapped the Kashmir valley for the last 13 years.

Completely disabled, he is struggling to survive with steel-like determination but gets no help from the Government to make himself a model for thousands of those who face a similar kind of situation.

Javed's pathetic story dates back to March 1997, when he fell victim to the bullets of militants.

"It was the darkest night in my life when gunmen entered into the house of my cousin, Ghulam Qadir Tak, block president of the National Conference. They wanted him to accompany them but the family members resisted and they opened fire. One bullet which pierced my waist was enough to render me disabled for the entire life'' he says.

Then started a journey to hospitals in Srinagar, the longest spell — 11 months — being in SMHS Hospital.

Javed could not return back to normal life as he had a spinal injury, which later affected many other organs.

He was finally discharged from hospital but without one kidney, spleen, part of the liver and intestines.

A first class science graduate, Javed did not lose hope but vigorously pursued his case for compensation and rehabilitation not only with the State Government but with the Central Government as well.

Trying to come to terms with his lot even after six years, he negotiates with his wheelchair and puts all his efforts to contact officers through telephone, fax and personal messages.

So far, he has not been able to get anything, which could help him reshape his life. "I want to live and show it to the world that one who cannot move from bed can also live, that too on his own. But the Government does not want you to do so,'' says a hopeful Javed. After spending Rs. 5 lakhs for treatment, he was given Rs. 75,000 by the Government, which he refused to accept. He also wants those who made his life meaningless to be punished.

But the relatives of the accused allegedly started threatening him. "Many a time, they tried to motivate me and sometimes threatened me of more damage,'' he says.

A highly disturbed young man, he was forced to withdraw the case.

The irony, he says, was that one of the attackers who got injured with his own pistol fire was given ex-gratia relief by the Government.

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