World cheers at soccer, Kashmiri footballers fall to bullets

Srinagar, July 06: While the entire world is cheering for FIFA WorldCup 2010, Kashmir is losing its football players to police and CRPF bullets.The playgrounds where they used score goals are becoming their funeral grounds. Muzaffar’s body was kept in a football ground near the iron goal post along with other Fayaz Ahmad Wani both of who were killed allegedly by CRPF and police. The women crossed the dangerously placed wooden bridge over Doodh Ganga to reach the ground just to get a glimpse of “the martyrs”. As the playground reverberated with pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, women waved their scarves toward the sky. Within no time, mourners swelled into thousands, paying last tributes to the duo. People had climbed the goal posts were young Muzzafar, cheered by spectators, had been kicking goals. People were having a look at his blood drenched body in that wailing ground. Fayaz, an employee of Agriculture department is survived by wife and two daughters. He too was a footballer. His wife was unconscious and two daughter were beating their faces, pulling their hair and screaming “where is our papa”. Both the bodies were laid to rest at the local graveyard.