Hit by Mortar, 6-Yr-Old Kashmiri Loses Legs and Right to Education

Fayaz was just three when he lost his sister and both his legs to a mortar shell attack outside his home.

For many in violence-hit Kashmir, pellets and mortars have caused damage that will stay with them for their lives. Six-year-old Fayaz Ahmad is one such child whose life has changed forever because of the horrors of this never-ending war in the Valley.

Fayaz was just three when he lost his sister after a mortar shell exploded outside his house. However, it was not just his sister that he lost on that ill-fated day.

Fayaz, who is six now, also lost both his legs in the explosion, along with what looks like his right to good education.

Unable to find a school for their child in Kashmir's Budgam district, Fayaz’s parents –Reyaz Ahmad and Fidousa, who are both labourers – moved their base and shifted to Srinagar to find good education for him. They moved to a rented single room in Srinagar's Batmaloo area and set out on a quest to find him a school.

However, for three months now, they have struggled to get Fayaz admission in a school. The parents say they were turned away by two private schools even after intervention by the director of education.

Schools refused admission even after the Director of Education sent his officers with me three times. They say they will not be able to handle my child because he can’t go to toilet on his own or climb stairs... For parents, it is like doomsday. We lost our daughter and are now facing this problem for our son.

Fayaz’s parents to NDTV

Also Read: Several Injured During Ceasefire Violations as Mortars Rain on LoC

Jammu and Kashmir Govt Assures Help

Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, who is the Director of Education, Kashmir, has acknowledged that he knew about the case and has been trying to get the child admitted in a school.

Meanwhile, the state's Education Minister Naeem Akhtar told NDTV that the denial of admission is unacceptable and that action will be taken against the schools concerned.

He is our responsibility and all such children are the responsibility of the state. I’m very sorry about the circumstances in which he lost his limbs. We will see what we can do about the private schools that turned him away.

Also Read: As Pellets Blind Their Men, Kashmiri Women Continue to Suffer

(Source: NDTV)