Bandipora, March 7: The name on the screen was Irfan Ahmad Lone. Behind it, in a small village in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, stood a father who had spent his life savings on 18 eye surgeries that did not work, sold his ancestral land to pay school fees, and held on to a single belief: that his blind son would one day see a future other could not.
On Friday, when the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declared the final results for the Civil Services Examination, Irfan’s name figured in the list of 15 successful candidates from Jammu and Kashmir. For his father, Bashir Ahmed, a 55-year-old casual labourer who earns Rs 3,000 a month with the Irrigation and Flood Control department, the moment marked the end of a long, dark tunnel.
“I had told my son from the beginning that, as his father, I would do whatever it takes, but I would never compromise on his education,” Bashir told Kashmir Convener.
The story of how Irfan got here is not one of coaching centres or strategy guides. It is a story of two accidents.
When Irfan was four, he suffered an injury to one eye. Treatment in Kashmir and Punjab failed to heal it completely. Doctors advised that reconstructive surgery would have to wait until the child was 10. Bashir enrolled him in a local school to ensure he did not fall behind. Twenty days later, tragedy struck again.
“He was writing on a page. Suddenly, another child came from behind, and the pencil my son was holding struck his other eye,” Bashir recounted. “An emergency surgery had to be performed. At first, he regained some light perception, but unfortunately, after that, he lost vision in both eyes.”
Over the following years, Irfan underwent 18 surgeries. “All in vain. He could not regain his vision.”
Bashir shared with Kashmir Convener, “I had heard about a school for the blind in Dehradun. It was far from my village in Bandipora, and the fees were beyond my means. Still, I made a decision. I sent my son there to study, and back home, I began selling whatever land I owned—all so that my son could get an education and never have to struggle the way I feared he might.”
“Whatever little land I had, I sold it, but I never let it affect my son’s education,” he said. “I did not have the means, but my son’s dream was to have a bright future. Seeing my child’s result today, I feel so proud.”
With a monthly salary of Rs 3,000, the mathematics of survival was brutal. Yet, he insisted there was no choice to be made. Recalling the struggle, Bashir admitted, “When I recall the toughest days, it still brings tears to my eyes.” He added, “But today’s result is not just a relief or hope for me and my son, but for my entire family.”
He said the years of hospital wards and financial strain have culminated in a moment of quiet vindication. “My message to other parents is simple.”
“There is nothing wrong with helping children, no matter what they dream of,” he said. “But as parents, we must support them to help them fly high and achieve the colours of success.”
Following the declaration of the UPSC results on Friday, neighbours in the Mirpora Naidkhai area began gathering outside the Bashir’s household—a simple residence that now carries the weight of an extraordinary achievement.
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