‘Five years have passed, I don’t know my husband is dead or alive’

Manzoor Ahmad Dar was a chemist. Five years ago, on January 18, he returned from his shop as usual in the evening, not knowing that this would be his last day with the family.

This is a story of struggle – a struggle of a wife who is searching for her missing husband since 2002. And even after five years, J&K Police and the J&K High Court’s intervention, this feeble yet resolute woman has failed to trace him.

Manzoor Ahmad Dar was a chemist. Five years ago, on January 18, he returned from his shop as usual in the evening, not knowing that this would be his last day with the family. As the night grew darker, there was a knock on the door at Dar’s house at Rawalpora. “When we opened the door we found soldiers waiting outside,” says Dar’s wife Jana Begum. “They pushed us aside and started searching the house. And when they finally left they took him along. They were led by one Major Malhotra.”

Begum saw Dar being pushed inside the vehicle. That was the last time she saw her husband, in helplessness. And that marked the beginning of a search that is yet to yield result.

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Begum started her search from the Army camp, where the raiding party was stationed. “He (Major Malhotra) told us that he has been picked up for questioning and would be released soon,” said Begum. “But he was never released.”

Later, a probe was initiated into the custodial disappearance of Dar and the Chief Judicial Magistrate after the inquiry directed the Police Station Sadar to register a case against Malhotra and his associates of the 35 Rashtriya Rifles.

Meanwhile, Begum’s search in jails and security camps gave her disappointments. She approached the J&K High Court and on the court directions, Director General of Police (DGP) of J-K constituted a special team to investigate the case. The police sent several written communications to the Army and asked them to produce Major Malhotra and other accused soldiers before the inquiry officer. The court also ordered Malhotra be produced for an identification parade. However, police said, that there were no response from the Army. The accused Army officer was, meanwhile, shifted to Assam and promoted as Colonel with the Assam Regiment.

But Begum hasn’t lost hope. She says she will fight it till end.

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“Five years have passed now. I don’t know whether my husband is dead or alive but I wouldn’t budge,” she says. “I will fight till I get justice. I will fight till the culprits are punished.”