Whamik Farooq Wani had left his home in the afternoon to play cricket with his friends at a stadium around 2 km away from his residence in the Rainawari district.
As they played, protests erupted in the nearby Rajouri Kadal locality, which fast spread to other areas and Indian police had to intervene.
An officer fired the shell at the 13-year-old, breaking his skull and causing him serious brain damage near the stadium. His friends managed to take him to hospital where he eventually died.
Whamik’s body was taken to a police morgue where it remained unidentified until late in the night, as the boy had forgotten to take his school identity card with him.
His family started panicking after he failed to come home.
“We rushed to the police station to enquire if they had a clue to his whereabouts. I thought maybe they might have picked him up during the trouble. After the police station said they had not seen him we returned home. Usually he would come home after offering Isha prayers at the local mosque. We couldn’t sleep,” said his father Farooq Ahmad.
The shocked family was eventually told to go to the police morgue to identify Whamik’s body.
“I should have died instead of you. You were so young and a budding flower. How will I live without you?” said Whamik’s mother Firdausa.
The tragedy has stunned the whole of Kashmir. Whamik is the fifth casualty of violence that has engulfed the region this month.
Promised dialogue between Delhi and the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leadership is yet to take place, deepening the sense of desperation in the Kashmir valley.
The Muslim majority community in the area observed one of its strictest curfews today to express its shock at the killing of the 13-year old boy, on orders from the APHC.
Public anger spilled again onto the streets of Srinagar and surrounding areas on Tuesday for the third day running.
Fierce clashes involving security forces and protestors left 35 wounded today, including ten officers.
The recurring waves of violence have affected winter tourism and injected a sense of despair and uncertainty for the year ahead into the community.
“The situation has taken a turn for the worse and I fear year 2010 is going to be a year of uncertainty instead of promise and hope,” said college lecturer Abdul Rauf.
