Syed Iqbal Sultani
My elder brother, Hakim U Rehman Sultani as the name suggests he was the real hakim, a pious religious person , socially vibrant personality well known for his knowledge and in-depth understanding of literature. He was a sympathizer of people of all shades and popular among the masses for his contribution in nurturing the young talent. A student of science he was realy knowledge bank of Islam. He was Islamic preacher, khateeb of many masjids were he used to deliver sermons on Fridays. During 52 day long unrest in 2016 triggered by the death of the Burhan wani that resulted in the killing of about 100 civilians and pellet injuries to thousands, Hakim U Rehman was talk of the town. He was affiliated with Hurriyat Conference ( G ) and headed the resistance campaign all over north Kashmir and delivered the sermons’ in every village and town of district Baramaulla .His sermons were inspiring enough to attract huge crowds in large numbers and youth were always seen rallying behind him in difficult times. He was slapped with PSA for organizing protests . Police raided his house to arrest him many times but he remained out of his house and family for one year. During that time he couldn’t meet his family members and his four daughters as he preferred to keep himself engaged with his activities to lead from the front in the resistance campaign.
It was December2016 when the police arrested him and people in his ancestral village were panicked by his arrest and came out in large numbers to defend his arrest. He was put behind the bars in Bomai police station where from he was shifted to Kupwara sub jail where he remained under detention for 18 month. I still remember the moment when he was brought in court for remand before the judge. The judge ordered to arrest him again against the FIR lodged against him that time and I could see his eyes full of tears as he was expecting his release that day . Finally he was released on 28thJune the happiest moment for all of us with the hope that he would get an opportunity to meet his family particularly his daughters. On 8th September the darkest day of my life when my cell phone rang around 12.30 P.M I could hear words that hakim baya has been hit by a fire. These words panicked me and I rushed towards the home where I could see thousands of people mourning the death of my brother. I saw my brother was laid down on the bed and I could see his face and smile. He was martyred by unknown and left us alone in a deep shock . He was person of such a caliber who single handedly jolted the political establishments. He was husband and father of four daughters all aged below 15, if ever subjects from their sleep half rouse themselves, witchery of tyrant steep their wits in dreams again. Whenever the oppressed stands up to speak truth to the power, history tells us there is always an attempt to silence him.
(The author is a freelancer. Views are his own [email protected] )
