In Indian held Kashmir, already deprived of two senses, a deaf-and-dumb boy Suhail Shafi was left blinded for life when Indian troops fired pellets at him.
Suhail had not let disability come in his way by earning a living working as a videographer, a driver and a decorator until he lost his vision with pellets fired by the forces at him on Eid when everyone at his home was preparing to get the sacrificial sheep slaughtered.
“His right eye has been damaged, which makes it hard for him to work as he can’t shoot video with his left eye alone,” Suhail’s mother Khadija says. “He can’t even drive or decorate with a damaged eye.”
Being deaf and dumb, 21-year-old Suhail, who hails from Baramulla, calls people with specify gestures.
“Whenever he has to call me, he points at his nose as I wear a nose pin,” Khadija says. “And if he has to call his younger brother, he shows the sign of a feeder putting his thumb in his mouth.”
The day Suhail was injured he had gone to call his younger brother. Suhail has undergone two surgeries in his eye but is yet to regain vision. “Despite being disabled he used to earn over a thousand rupees a day but what will he do now,” Khadija says expressing concern over the future of his son.
The scars left by pellets have also taken a toll on Suhail’s mental health. “When his sisters and uncle tried to contact him through a video call, he wasn’t able to see them on the monitor and couldn’t talk to them properly and cried,” Khadija narrates an incident of last week.
“His tears are more painful,” she says. “When a normal person cries, he shouts but Suhail’s tears do all the crying, which is hurtful.”