A 16-year-old girl blinded by security forces – whose wounded face sparked an outcry against the use of pellets in Kashmir – is on song.
Insha Mushtaq, who studied music after she lost her sight, has cleared the 10th standard board examinations in Jammu and Kashmir, and now hopes to study further.
"I took music as a subject and have passed that," she told PTI on the phone.
Insha, who comes from a remote village in south Kashmir's Shopian district, is among the 43,000 students who passed the examination, the results of which were announced on Wednesday.
When asked about her plans, Insha said she wanted to study further.
I will choose the stream for further studies after consulting my parents.Insha Mushtaq told PTI
According to the Indian Express, Insha had three tutors visiting her everyday, to read out the textbooks, so she could repeat them the next day. She also took her exams in November 2017 at Mohammadiya Institution, a privately run school in Shopian, after taking help of a writer, her friend Nina, and requesting an extra half an hour.
The report adds that her GPA ranged between six and eight for her five subjects, which comes under the category of “qualified, but to improve”. However, as Insha told the newspaper: “I am happy with my result”.
Insha was blinded by pellets fired by security forces in the summer agitation of 2016 while she was standing by a window in her house, watching the demonstrators outside.
The pellets ruptured the retina and optic nerve of her eyes, and the damage could not be undone even after six operations conducted at some of the top eye care hospitals.
The 2016 stir was triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by the forces.
The news that she had cleared the exams conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Examinations in November 2017 brought joy to the teenage girl, who developed an interest in music after losing her eyesight.
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The board people have shown me as having failed in mathematics, but it was not one of my subjects.Insha Mushtaq told PTI
Her father, Mushtaq Ahmad Lone told the Indian Express: “None of us in the family could help her with her subjects. She and her tutors spend hours on getting good grades.”
Nearly 63 percent of the 69,056 students who appeared for the board examination have cleared it.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah congratulated the successful students, including Insha.
“A special shout out to young Insha who was blinded by pellets during the 2016 protests and has cleared her 10th exams today," Abdullah tweeted.
In another tweet, he also congratulated all the other boys and girls who had cleared their class 10 examinations, and said that he hoped they would continue pursuing their education.
(With inputs from PTI and Indian Express)
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