The Farewell That Silenced a College

In Kashmir countryside, a dedicated educator’s transfer stirs tears, stories, and the lingering weight of goodbye.

- Rayees Ahmad Kumar

In the far south of Kashmir, where roads wind between poplar trees and school bells echo faintly across paddy fields, a college gathered for a farewell.

The man at the center of it, Dr. Ishtiyaq Ahmad Shah, was leaving after years of service. He wasn't retiring, just moving, as government officers often do.

But the moment didn't feel routine. It felt like the end of something fragile and meaningful.

Government Degree College Frisal isn’t a place you're likely to read about. It sits silently in the Kulgam district, far from the capitals of power. Its buildings are modest, its needs many.

But for the students who walk there every day, some from villages miles away, it is an anchor. And Dr. Shah, during his tenure, had become its most stable part.

His transfer came through official channels, a simple order directing him to take charge at another college, this one in Qazigund, a small highway town known mostly as a stopover on the way to Srinagar. It wasn’t a surprise.

Transfers in the public education system are expected, sometimes even necessary. They balance staff shortages, shift leadership, and try to stir progress.

But Frisal wasn't ready.