Ishfaq gulzar cni

Charar-e-Sharief (Kashmir), Jul 27:It has been three decades since the 66-day siege at the revered Charar-e-Sharief shrine, yet the memory of the harrowing standoff between terrorists and security forces remains vivid in the minds of residents who saw death and destruction ravaging their ancient town.

On May 11, 1995, the siege ended with a fire, ignited by cornered terrorists as a final desperate measure to escape, destroying the 14th-century shrine of the venerated saint Sheikh Noor-ud-din Noorani (Nund Reshi), the nearby mosque and a

large part of the surrounding area as thousands of residents lost their homes and livelihood.For locals like Ghulam Hasan Khadim, who still

shudders as he recalls Pakistani terrorist Mast Gul shoving a grenade in the mouth of an elderly man who was trying to break the siege, and many others, the tragedy changed their lives forever.Khadim, while taking a deep breath, recalls t CNI