With tears, resolve, Kashmiris bid adieu to slain pharmacist

Srinagar, October 6

The sound of Vedic chants and azaan from a nearby mosque fused in melodic harmony for a brief moment at the Bindroo residence in Indra Nagar where hundreds of mourners from every walk of life gathered on Wednesday to pay their respects to the humanist-businessman, Makhan Lal Bindroo, who was gunned down by terrorists.

Bindroo was killed at his pharmacy Bindroo Medicare on Tuesday evening by terrorists. As the family prepared for the ritualistic last bath, his wife Kiran cried out in anguish, “He lived for humanity. He served you people... why was he killed? What was his fault?”

‘His body left kashmir, not spirit’

• Dry-eyed and fierce Shraddha Bindroo, daughter of the slain chemist, challenged her father’s killers.
• “If you have the guts, come have a debate with me. You won’t. You merely know how to hurl stones and open fire,” she said.
• “I am ML Bindroo’s daughter. Only his body has left Kashmir, not spirit”, she said.

The prominent Kashmiri Pandit was one of those who stayed back in the Valley through the years of turmoil and tension.

Beyond Barbarism

Barbaric is too small a word to describe the incident. I had a long association with Bindroo saab and it is very unfortunate that he left us this way. —Altaf Bukhari, Leader, J&k Apni Party

His daughter Shraddha Bindroo, however, was dry-eyed and fierce. “I will not shed tears,” said the young woman, a doctor who works as an associate professor at a Chandigarh hospital. She stood on a chair and shouted out to the killers, “Mein Makhan Lal Bindroo ji ki beti hoon. Unka shareer gaya hai aatma nahi (I am Makhan Lal Bindroo’s daughter. Only his body has left Kashmir, not spirit).”

Challenging her father’s killers, she said, “If you have the guts, come have a debate with me. You won’t. You merely know how to hurl stones and open fire.” The indomitable Shraddha, who also gave multiple media interviews about her father, said he started his business on a cycle and had helped her as well as her doctor brother reach where they are today.

Her mother, she said, sits at the shop and serves people.

The 68-year-old Makhan Lal, many said, stood for every person rich or poor during the last 31 years of the insurgency and provided medicines free of cost to the needy. His chain of shops is a trusted name for genuine medicines.

He had even brought his son back from a high paying job at the Medanta Hospital in Gurugram to serve people of Kashmir, a retired police officer recalled as he joined the queue of mourners to condole and condemn the death.

Minutes after Bindroo was shot at point blank range, allegedly by terrorists of The Resistance Front (TRF) at his pharmacy near Iqbal Park, militants gunned down a street food vendor, Virendra Paswan from Bihar, elsewhere in the city. Almost simultaneously, another civilian, Mohammad Shafi Lone, was killed at Naidkhai in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.

Former CM and Lok Sabha MP Farooq Abdullah urged the deceased’s son, Siddharth Bindroo, to not leave Kashmir. Abdullah, who was in tears as he hugged Siddharth, said, “Your father was a brave man. He stood against all odds. God will punish the culprits.” — PTI

Don’t leave valley: Farooq to kin

Former CM and Lok Sabha MP Farooq Abdullah urged the deceased’s son, Siddharth Bindroo, to not leave Kashmir. Abdullah, who was in tears as he hugged Siddharth, said, “Your father was a brave man. He stood against all odds. God will punish the culprits.”

Road to be named after bindroo

Srinagar MC Mayor Junaid Mattoo has said the road from Haft Chinar Chowk to Jehangir Chowk will be named after ML Bindroo. “A resolution will be formally proposed in the MC General Council, he tweeted. IANS

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