Villagers of Sheikhpora in Tulail Tehsil of Gurez in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, blocked a main road on Wednesday in protest, demanding a wider response from authorities as the search for a missing 10-year-old boy entered its third day.
Babar Bashir Sheikh drowned into the Kishanganga River at Sheikhpora on Monday prompting a rescue mission from locals and authorities. However, with time dlapsing, it has now turned into a recovery operation.
Even as SDRF, police and other rescures had reached the spot on the first day, locals on Wednesday alleged that official rescue teams on the ground are inadequate and that senior officials posted in Gurez were not seen on the ground, suggesting lack of seriousnes.
Protesters who blocked the road shouted slogans against the administration, chanting, “We want justice,” as they demanded greater accountability and urgency in the recovery operation.
The agreived villagers appealed to the administration to intensify the search, deploy additional personnel and specialised equipment, and maintain round-the-clock coordination.
With this frustration, locals and relatives are sying that they have been forced to shoulder the burden of the rescue operation.
Muhammad Usman, the boy’s uncle, criticised the rescue personnel who arrived on Tuesday, alleging they lacked the necessary expertise for river rescues.
“None of them has the expertise to go into the middle of the river and look for the child,” Usman said.
“When I asked them, they would say, ‘The water is cold,’ and make other excuses.”
Usman noted that rescue personel hesitated to enter even shallow areas of the river, forcing him to intervene directly.
“There are places where it was absolutely necessary and crucial to look. Even where the water level was very low, they couldn’t go there,” he said.
“I actually had to hold some of them by the hand to guide them.”
The family further highlighted the absence of senior administrative figures at the scene, noting that neither the tehsildar nor the sub-divisional magistrate had visited the site by Wednesday.
“This is a massive failure on the part of the administration,” Usman said. “It is entirely the local public doing all of this on their own.”
