The wails came from the rooftops, women mourned inside their houses, men ran back in tears from bakery shops, The news struck us like a hurricane or a tornado.
Every street burst with wails and slogans. “Our leader is no more!” people wailed everywhere, in the streets and from the Mosques.
Men came running to each other’s houses in utter disbelief and gathered in clusters, The Hero is no more. People could not come in terms that an orator whose loud shot would scare the most brutal Force personnel had fallen. Finally, his body reached Islamabad and no less than an ocean of people hit the streets of Islamabad town carrying the body of the slain leader. Through the windows of their houses, women wailed and mourned, “Death to the enemy.”
Women in large numbers from nooks and corners of South Kashmir visited the home of slain Mirwaiz in groups, which continued for the next fourty days. Thousands of people started marching towards Dialgam to bid adieu to the great leader. Women showering rose petals and sweets on the body of the slain leader sang traditional folk to say Goodbye “Qaez Soubo, Alwaida” (Farewell, Qazi Nisar). Men chatting ‘Dil dil Qazi Qazi, Jaan Jaan Qazi Qazi!’ marched the streets for five consecutive hours, I can tell you, nobody was home, nobody returned from the funeral, nobody was tired on a sunny June day.
People from as far as Chenab Valley and Tanghdar visited Islamabad to get the last glimpse of the fallen leader, It is undeniable that much of the mourning on display during the funeral, the honour of Dr. Qazi Nisar was a genuine outpouring of grief and shock at the slaying of an internationally known advocate of Peace. It is also true that an event of such magnitude occurred spontaneously.
As the procession made its way through the town, bystanders joined in and the number of people marching grew; reports estimate at least 100,000 paraded that day. Describing the scale of the funeral, a local CID official had told me, that more than 1.5 Lakh people marched that day, recalling the assembly being “frighteningly enormous.” Officials from New Delhi and Srinagar kept their eyes dotted on the funeral. In addition to the marchers, tens of thousands of onlookers crowded onto sidewalks, walls, and rooftops.People, both men and women fainted during the funeral procession.
This was perhaps the first and only time in Kashmir’s history, mobile hospitals were set up as the number of women and men fainting during the funeral escalated when it marched the nooks and corners of the Islamabad town. Scores of ambulances marched along with the funeral through the jam-packed streets of the town.
The funeral prayers were held for three consecutive days and scholars from worldwide attended the funeral, Militant commanders fired in the air at more than a dozen places, as a mark of respect to the slain Mirwaiz of South Kashmir.
After he was shot dead, he did not take the name of his parents or his family or relatives, in fact, his last words were, “Waii.! Khudaya Kashren pyeouw Tawan,” Translation, Who will speak for Kashmiris now, for I will be dead now