When Kargil’s lifeless find yourself in Pakistan: Households demand change level as rivers sweep our bodies throughout LoC | India Information
4 min learnSrinagarMight 3, 2026 07:09 AM IST
On March 20, a day after he celebrated his sixth birthday, Zulqarnain Ali and his cousin Ali Akbar (6) stepped out to play at Hundurman, the final village earlier than the Line of Management (LoC) in Kargil. Whereas taking part in, the boys slipped into the fast-flowing waters of the Shingo River.
Akbar’s physique was retrieved from the river in Hundurman a day later, however Zulqarnain couldn’t be traced. On Friday night, a WhatsApp name from throughout the border knowledgeable the household that the physique had been retrieved and buried in Gangani village of Baltistan, throughout the LoC.
“He (Zulqarnain) would by no means go in the direction of the river,” says his father Mohammad Hussain (38), a authorities college instructor. “They had been three youngsters, Zulqarnain, my sister’s son and one other boy, comparatively older. The older boy survived however these two drowned.”
This isn’t the primary such tragedy in Kargil. Javid Ali, who runs the Al Mehdi Scouts and helps seek for our bodies within the Shingo and Suru rivers, says, “There are at the very least 10 to 12 circumstances the place we couldn’t discover the our bodies, that are carried to Pakistan by sturdy currents. These are fast-flowing rivers, particularly so within the summers.”
“I personally bear in mind many incidents over the past 12 months; there was a automotive accident and 5 folks drowned. We might retrieve solely two whereas three our bodies had been swept throughout the border. It’s usually by means of social media that we come to know our bodies have been discovered there,” he says.
The Shingo River flows from Drass in the direction of Kargil, and the Suru River descends from Zanskar to Kargil. The dual rivers meet close to Hundurman, rising the circulation and velocity.
With a inhabitants of little over 200 as per the 2011 census, Hundurman is the final village on this facet of the LoC. Throughout the border is Gangani, one other small hamlet. Earlier than 1971, Hundurman and Gangani had been a part of one village beneath Pakistan’s management. Within the 1971 battle, India captured Hundurman. The 2 villages have people who find themselves associated.
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With no mechanism to ship the our bodies dwelling, the folks of Kargil are demanding the opening of an change level at Hundurman.
Sajjad Hussain, a political chief and activist who’s a part of the Kargil Democratic Alliance, says, “For greater than 70 years, households divided between Ladakh and Baltistan have been unable to reunite. This separation extends past life itself. Our bodies of those that, as a result of accidents, are swept throughout the river to the opposite facet are sometimes by no means returned to their place of birth.”
Requesting the Exterior Affairs Minister and his Pakistani counterpart to intervene, he says, “A delegated change level ought to be established to facilitate the dignified return of those our bodies to their households.”
Zulqarnain’s physique was recovered after 40 days, and his father says the household consented to their youngster being buried in Baltistan. “Forty days had already handed, they usually knowledgeable us it will be higher to bury him there solely,” he says. “We agreed.”
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For Zulqarnain’s father, the WhatsApp name on a neighbour’s telephone is just a partial closure. “We had despatched the photographs throughout and knowledgeable them concerning the garments he was sporting that day. They’ve mentioned they retrieved the physique and buried it,” he says. “However I’ve not seen any photographs of the funeral but. I’m ready for the images.”
Many households are nonetheless ready for even this a lot of a closure.
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