Wednesday was the first morning of her life when her mother did not come to her room, instead she woke up to the cries of wailing family members. Cherry, 13, ran to the room where the lifeless body of her mother, Rajni Bala, was kept, as she made a last-ditch effort to wake her up.
“Mummy, please get up, please help me get ready for school, I am getting late for class”, Cherry kept telling her mother, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Bala, 36, a much-loved teacher, was gunned down by terrorists outside her school in Gopalpura area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Tuesday morning.
Cherry is too young to understand why her mother, a Hindu, was killed by terrorists, even though she was only teaching students from the region, a majority population of which is Muslim.
But she understands that from now on, every morning, she won’t see her mother around.
‘THEY KILLED A FAMILY’
“Every morning, mummy used to wake up, make breakfast for us, help me get ready for school and then go for work. I can never imagine a life without mummy. I know she will never be around now,” Cherry said, trying to wipe her tears in vain.
Soon after Bala’s cremation, her husband, Raj Kumar, broke down as he narrated how she loved and cared for everyone around.
“She was an amazing wife, a loving mother and a caring teacher. She was loved and respected by all. She used to support many children who were not financially strong. I wonder why she was killed by the terrorists,” Kumar said.
Kumar said the terrorists have not killed only an individual, but an entire family. “They think they killed one individual, but in reality, they have killed an entire family. My daughter will grow up without her mother. Can you imagine the trauma she went through yesterday, when she saw the lifeless body of her mother,” Kumar asked, holding back his tears.
‘CEO DIDN’T PAY HEED’
Kumar held the chief education officer (CEO) of Kulgam responsible for the killing. “Although the terrorists killed my wife, the CEO of Kulgam did nothing for us. After government employee and Kashmiri Pandit Rahul Bhat’s killing, we went to him four times, requesting him to transfer Rajni to a safer location, but he paid no heed,” he said.
The family has now requested Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to transfer Kumar to Jammu, where he can look after his aged parents and take care of his daughter.
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Meanwhile, reiterating its commitment for resolution of issues pertaining to minorities in Kashmir Valley, a dedicated cell in the General Administration Department was set up on Wednesday to attend to and resolve the grievances of minorities in Kashmir.
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If the members of the minority community face any difficulty, they can email the designated officer on jk.minoritycell@gmail.com or register their grievances on phone between 10 am and 5.30 pm, an official spokesman said.
The cell will be headed by Additional Secretary (Administration), General Administration Department.
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