Cold claims lives of two kids in Kashmir

The death of two children aged 10 and 6 of a nomadic family in a Kulgam forest in the past two days, reportedly due to intense cold, has triggered a wave of anger and gloom in the Valley.

The family of Zubair Ahmad alias Zair Khan, originally from Reasi in Jammu, has been putting up in a temporary shed covered with tarpaulin and polythene in a forest area of Devsar in Kulgam amid bone chilling temperatures.

Locals and officials said Ahmad’s 10-year-old son Sahil Zubair, who was suffering from fever for the past few days, died on Saturday.

“We are poor people. This cold killed my son and now my young daughter is also sick,” sobbing Mumtaz, mother of the children, had told a local journalist on Sunday.

The couple’s 6- year- old daughter, Shazia Jan, was later rushed to a health facility, but could not be saved.

“The two were not brought to any hospital of the district,” said chief medical officer of Kulgam, Dr Fazil Kochak.

“Two kids have died – one on Saturday and another on Sunday night,” said Rashid Ahmad, Devsar tehsildar, who had gone to the family to give a few blankets and a bag of ration earlier on Saturday.

He again returned with additional deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Rather on Monday after the girl’s death.

“They did not inform us about the boy’s illness,” the tehsildar said.

“After the January-3 snowfall, in- charge of a nearby school had announced that the facility was open for the affected. We had given them an option which they refused to accept,” said Rashid Ahmad.

CPIM leader and former MLA of Kulgam, MY Tarigami, meanwhile, blamed the administration for the deaths.

“This tragic incident speaks volumes about the failure of administration in protecting the marginalised sections of society. We must strive and struggle collectively for ensuring justice to our people,” he said in a Tweet.

Additional deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Rather said the family has been taken to a hospital and put under the supervision of medical superintendent of Kulgam hospital.

“They are saying the children died due to cold, but we had asked them to shift to a school beforehand, but they did not listen. The family is poor and appears pale. We have now moved them all, including the pregnant daughter-in-law of Ahmad, to the hospital for observation,” Rather said.