Plea of Kashmiri family: Do we have no right to bury our dead

The family members of one of the three slain men killed in an gunbattle with government forces here last month today sought his body. Talking to Newscraving, the family members of Athar Mushtaq, a teenager from southern Kashmir area of Pulwama, said that instead of police burying him the body should have been handed over to them for last rites. His body along with that of two other youth has been buried several miles away at Sonmarag. The family members rejected police claim that Athar was a militant. His uncle, Mohd Shafi Wani, regretted that his body was not handed over to them. " Do we have no right to bury our dead?," he asked. " Athar is innocent. He is not a militant who fought Indian rule. He was studying in 11-th class and on the day he was killed he left home in the afternoon and we heard that he has been killed." Authorities have not been handing over the bodies of those who are killed in gunbattles in Kashmir to the families to stem anti-government protests. However, Mushtaq said that they can bury the body in the " night" if the authorities fear public protests.