Shattering peace in the Kashmir valley, a retired police officer was shot dead by ‘unidentified’ terrorists while he was giving the call for ‘azaan’ from inside a mosque early Sunday morning in the Gantmulla locality of Sheeri area in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
The incident took place at a time when thousands of tourists and adventure sports lovers had already landed in the Kashmir valley to join the Christmas and New Year celebrations across the ski resorts of Gulmarg and Pahalgam.
This is the first such incident where a worshipper has been targeted inside a religious place by ‘unidentified’ terrorists in recent years.
The religious places had earlier witnessed a hostage crisis where security personnel safely evacuated civilians to prevent any collateral damage during gunfights with terrorists holed up inside religious places.
The deceased worshipper has been identified as retired Superintendent of Police Mohammad Shafi Mir. He retired from his active services in 2012. Mir had become the local “muezzin” — a person who calls for prayers — and he was devoted to his duties at the mosque, a resident said. “Terrorists fired upon Shafi, a retired police officer, at Gantmulla, Sheeri Baramulla, while praying ‘azaan’ in the mosque and he succumbed to injuries,” the Kashmir Zone Police said in a post on X. He was later laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard in Baramulla.
The killing of a retired police officer has been widely condemned by a section of political leaders and the residents in the area.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in his condolence message wrote on X, “Pained beyond words on the dastardly terrorist attack on a retired police officer, Shafi while he was giving a call for prayer in the mosque. Cowards responsible for this barbaric act will not be spared. My condolences to the bereaved family in this hour of grief.”
Recalling the moments before Shafi was killed, his cousin Mohammad Mustafa, who was at home, said the call for the pre-dawn prayers was being given by a loudspeaker and suddenly it stopped. His last words were “reham (mercy)”, he said.
The “azaan” had stopped at “Ashhadu Anna Mohammadu Rasool-Allah (I bear witness that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah)”, he said. Mir is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Mir’s younger brother Abdul Kareem said he was sleeping, but was woken up by sounds which he assumed could have been caused because of a problem in the microphone. “My daughter-in-law said she heard people crying…,” he said.
“Mir used to give the call for ‘azaan’ every day. I think this was planned as the Imam Sahib (prayer leader) goes home on Saturday and returns on Sunday,” Kareem said.
Congress spokesperson Ravinder Sharma condemned the murder saying this is “not Jihad, this is the killing of humanity and sheer terrorism”.
The National Conference (NC) said violence can never be tolerated in any form. “JKNC president Dr Farooq Abdullah and VP @OmarAbdullah express profound sadness over the tragic Baramulla incident, where retired SP Mohammad Shafi was senselessly shot dead,” the party said in a post on X.
Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said innocent people have become “collateral damage to maintain the facade of normalcy touted” by the Centre.
The BJP termed the act dastardly and said terror and terrorists have no religion.
“Dastardly act of killing of 72-year-old retired police officer by those who have no religion. The sons of the devil can’t even tolerate ‘azaan’… Terror and terrorists have no religion. Strongly condemn this killing, express my solidarity with the bereaved family,” BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir spokesman Altaf Thakur said.
Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari in a post on X said, “Condemn the cowardly killing of retired SSP Mr. Mohammad Shafi Mir in Gantmulla, Baramulla. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family in this hour of utter grief and demise. May the departed soul rest in peace and solace in the world hereafter.”
