SRINAGAR The family of Ahtesham Bilal Sofi, the 17-year-old Sharda University student who reportedly has joined the Islamic State Jammu Kashmir (ISJK), Saturday appealed to militants to have “mercy on us” and let him return home.
Ahtesham’s father Bilal Ahmad Sofi made the appeal in a video message that is being shared widely on social media.
Bilal said his son was the “only male heir of an extended family” and asked the militant to allow him return home.
“Have mercy on us and let him return. Allah will have mercy on you,” he said.
Ahtesham, a resident of Khanyar locality in downtown Srinagar, was a first-year graduation student at the university at Greater Noida. He went missing on October 28 after he left the varsity with official permission to go to Delhi, days after he was mistakenly roughed up during a scuffle between Indian and Afghan students in the campus.
Later, pictures on social media showed Ahtesham dressed in a black outfit and claimed he had joined the ISJK, an outfit influenced by ISIS ideology.
“Your paradise is your parents, you are the only hope of 12 family members. Did you forget that this house has seen four deaths in the last two years,” said Bilal in the fervent appeal with tears streaming down his face.
Watch Video
[[{“type”:”media”,”fid”:”36920″,”view_mode”:”wysiwyg”,”instance_fields”:”override”,”link_text”:”Ehtisham Bilal”}]]
The mother of the teenager also pleaded and begged her only son to return home as she wept inconsolably next to her husband.
Following Ahtesham’s disappearance, a missing complaint was registered at the Knowledge Park police station in Greater Noida as well as at Khanyar police station in Srinagar.
Student Joining Militant Ranks Hugely Worrying: Omar
Former chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday that reports claiming a Kashmiri student of a private university joined militant ranks in the Valley were “hugely worrying”.
Bilal Sofi (17), a resident of Khanyar locality in downtown Srinagar, was was pursuing graduation from Greater Noida’s Sharda University.
“If this is genuine (social media post about Sofi joining militant ranks), it’s hugely worrying. Sometimes seemingly small actions have huge consequences (sic),” Abdullah wrote on Twitter.
Sofi went missing on October 28 after he left the varsity with official permission to go to Delhi, days after he was mistakenly roughed up during a scuffle between Indian and Afghan students in the campus.
A missing complaint was registered in the case at the Knowledge Park police station in Greater Noida as well as at the Khanyar police station in Srinagar, officials said.
The pictures on social media showed Sofi dressed in a black outfit and claimed he had joined militant group ISJK, an outfit influenced by ISIS ideology.
“If what happened to him at #ShardaUniversity has lead him to choose such a destructive path it’s even more tragic. One more life on the path to ruin & one more family in turmoil (sic),” Abdullah tweeted.
.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
