A Policeman’s Supreme Sacrifice
When a policeman lays down his life in the line of duty, the loss cannot be confined to one home. It becomes a loss for the entire society he stood to protect. The sacrifice of Head Constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi in a terror attack in Anantnag is therefore not merely another tragic entry in the record of violence. It is a reminder of the price that ordinary families continue to pay for peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
Personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir Police have served for years in circumstances that demand uncommon courage. They live among the people they protect, understand the local terrain and often stand on the frontline when terrorism strikes. Their work carries risks that few outside the uniform can fully appreciate. When one of them falls, tributes are necessary, but tributes alone are never enough. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s visit to Ashiq Hussain Qureshi’s family at Lalpora, Beerwah, therefore carries significance beyond protocol. His assurance that the administration will stand by the bereaved family and support the martyr’s son until he completes his studies and becomes eligible for compassionate government appointment sends an important message. The state must remain present not only at the funeral, but through the long years that follow. Families of fallen personnel should never be left navigating offices for pensions, educational assistance, employment benefits or other entitlements. A family already carrying grief should not have to carry bureaucracy as well. Every benefit due to a martyr’s family must reach it quickly, respectfully and without repeated applications or unnecessary delays. There is also a larger question of how society remembers its martyrs. Names such as Ashiq Hussain Qureshi should not disappear from public memory once the immediate grief passes. Schools, institutions and communities should tell the stories of those who chose duty despite danger. Young people deserve to know that peace is not an abstract achievement. It is often secured through personal courage and enormous sacrifice. But honouring martyrdom also demands honesty about terrorism. There can be no romanticising of violence and no social tolerance for those who provide shelter, justification or support to terror networks. The fight against terrorism cannot rest entirely on the shoulders of policemen, soldiers and security agencies. Society has a responsibility to deny terrorism the silence and space in which it survives. Security operations must remain firm and intelligence-driven, but lasting peace requires more than eliminating individual terrorists. The ecosystem that feeds violence, whether through radicalisation, financing, recruitment, logistics or propaganda, must be confronted with equal determination. At the same time, young people must be offered credible alternatives through education, employment, entrepreneurship and meaningful participation in Jammu and Kashmir’s development. The strongest response to terrorism is a society that refuses to be intimidated by it. Communities must stand with the families of those who protect them, and institutions must demonstrate that sacrifice will always be honoured with action. Ashiq Hussain Qureshi gave his life while performing his duty. Nothing can compensate his family for that loss. But the administration can ensure that they never feel abandoned, and society can ensure that his sacrifice is never forgotten.
A martyr deserves far more than ceremonial remembrance or words of sympathy offered in the immediate aftermath of tragedy. His family deserves lasting security, his children deserve education and opportunity, and his sacrifice deserves a Jammu and Kashmir where terrorism finds neither sympathy, support nor sanctuary. That would be the most meaningful tribute to a policeman who gave everything in defence of peace and public safety. The LG administration deserves appreciation for standing firmly with the family of Head Constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi and assuring long-term support. This commitment should now be translated into timely action through prompt release of every entitlement, sustained educational assistance, welfare support and compassionate appointment without unnecessary procedural delay. The families of fallen personnel should never be left to struggle with uncertainty after having already endured an irreparable loss. Their dignity, security and future must remain a permanent responsibility of the administration and society alike.
