Shopian /Pulwama May 1: As the lifeless body of three-year-old Hanzala arrived at his home in Tiken village, around 5 kilometres from south Kashmir’s Pulwama town, on Friday afternoon, a sea of mourners gathered, with grief hanging heavy in the air as they came together for his final rites.
Hanzala had drowned in the Rambiara river near Dubijan along the heritage Mughal Road on April 26 and was swept away by strong currents. Teams of the NDRF, SDRF, police and local residents spent days combing the river in search of the missing child.
On Friday morning, Ashiq Hussain Wani, a resident of Heerpora village, along with his father, recovered the body from the river.
Familiar with the river’s terrain, Wani had joined the search alongside his brother and other locals, scanning stretches of the river despite strong currents and freezing conditions.
On Friday, Wani and his father, Farooq Ahmad, moved nearly 4 kilometres downstream from the spot where the child had gone missing, continuing the search in icy waters.
“In the middle of the river, I noticed a large boulder and felt the body could be trapped underneath,” Wani said.
He said his father cautioned him against entering the fast-flowing waters without safety gear, but he chose to proceed.
“I took the risk and checked beneath the boulder. As I reached under it, I felt a body,” he said. “I immediately called out to my father and some local boys on the riverbank, and we pulled the child out.”
Wani said he could not bear the pain of the child’s family.
“The thought of his mother crying would not let me sleep. That is why I continued the search until we found him,” he said.
The recovery brought an end to days of uncertainty for the family, even as the operation highlighted the risks faced by locals who take part in such rescue efforts.
Authorities had been conducting search operations since Sunday, but strong currents and the river’s rocky terrain made the task difficult.
“The administration offered every possible help to locate the child,” said a relative of Hanzala.
As news of the recovery spread, thousands of mourners thronged Tiken village to pay their last respects and take part in the funeral prayers.
“The entire area has been drowned in grief since the incident,” said Farpooq Ahmad, a resident of Pulwama. “It is not just the family, the whole village is mourning.”
Another mourner said the tragedy had deeply shaken the community. “We have not seen such sorrow in a long time. Everyone came out to stand with the grieving family,” he said.
Residents said people from neighbouring villages also joined the funeral, reflecting the scale of the loss. “People walked from far-off places to be here. It shows how deeply this has affected everyone,” another resident said.
Exploiting tragedies
Amid the rescue efforts, residents said some individuals sought to exploit the tragedy for visibility. Despite sustained operations by authorities and local volunteers, locals alleged that a section of people visited the site primarily to post content on social media.
“It is tragic that some people came here merely to upload pictures on their social media accounts,” said Zaid Raja, a local reporter and resident.
Others also claimed that a few individuals attempted to draw political mileage from the incident, drawing criticism from the community.
