It has been more than 24 hours since Fatima has heard from her only daughter Lubna Nazir as she is stranded in Gaza amid the recent Israel-Palestine conflict. Now she is struggling to get in touch with Nazir to hear from her for once.
Lubna Nazir is a 52-year-old Kashmiri woman living in the Gaza Strip with her husband and two children ever since she got married to a Palestinian man some 20 years ago.
Israel says it has dropped 6,000 bombs in six days of bombardment of Gaza. On Friday, the zionist military asked over 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza in 24 hours.
“This could be my last call as my phone doesn’t have enough battery and there is no electricity, water, or food here. Don’t know for how long we will survive, there is shelling and bombardment all over,” these were Nazir’s words when she spoke with her mother Fatima and cousin Adnan.
Two days ago, Israel imposed a complete siege on the already blockaded Gaza Strip cutting off all food, water, electricity, and fuel supply. Gaza’s sole power plant has also collapsed leaving the conflict-ridden area in a complete blackout. The internet services have also been snapped with no further notice of restoration.
Nazir told her mother that her family in Gaza is not being able to lead their usual day or step out of the house as White Phosphorus starts pouring anytime during the day or night. Her kids and husband have not gone to school and work as there is shelling all around, as narrated by Adnan Jaan, Nazir’s maternal cousin to Maktoob on Thursday, October 12.
“She has been living there for years and it has always been a conflict zone, but this time it was different, we could hear the sound of bombs falling in the background while we were talking with her”, said Jaan.
Jaan told Maktoob, “She told us that she would try to relocate to some nearest safe place but commuting is also unsafe at the moment. She can’t stay there and she can’t move out.”
Fatima,80, is worried to the extent that she has not been able to eat or sleep ever since she last spoke with Nazir.
“Her mother is extremely tense and worried. She would only feel better after talking with her. She is not eating or sleeping”, said Jaan.
The family in Kashmir right now has no clue of Nazir’s whereabouts.
“Right now we don’t know where and how she is as we lost contact. We are trying to call her but it seems that her phone is dead”, he said.
“We lost contact”, he added.
‘Operation Ajay’
External Affairs Ministry of India on October 11, announced ‘Operation Ajay’ to evacuate its citizens who wish to return to India.
S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs said in a statement said, “Special chartered flights are being arranged and are likely to take off to India on October 12.”
In her last communication to the family on Wednesday, Nazir said that no such help has reached there yet.
“We have been praying for her to speak with us or return safely. We request the Indian government to evacuate them immediately,” said Jaan.
Maktoob tried to reach out to Nazir stranded in the Gaza Strip by phone call but all calls went unreachable. The phone didn’t even ring on the other side until this story got published.
Nasir Khuehami, National Convener of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) told Maktoob that there are more families stranded in the Gaza Strip.
More than 6 families are struck there who need immediate attention. Some of them went there for a short visit while some others were students, migrants, or married in Palestine, according to Khuehami.
Khuehami said, “We are trying to trace other families too and we will write to the Indian Government to evacuate Kashmiris as soon as possible.”
“We lost contact as we were trying to speak with them”, he added.
Meanwhile, JKSA has released a helpline number for Kashmiris stranded or residing in Gaza to contact in case there is an emergency or help is required.
