Son of Hurriyat chief joins Hizb
Srinagar: The son of Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, the newly elected chairman of Tehreek-eHurriyat, has reportedly joined the Hizbul Mujahideen, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Saturday. The police official said Junaid Ashra had been missing since Friday prayers.
Days after Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, a close confidante of Kashmir’s separatist patriarch Syed Ali Shah Geelani, replaced him as the chief of Tehrik-e-Hurriyat, the former’s son has gone missing, giving anxious moments to the family and friends.
On Saturday afternoon, a photograph showing Junaid with an assault rifle went viral.
The message with the photograph said that he has joined Hizb-ul-Mujahedin outfit. This seen as a clear sign of Hurriyat’s leanings towards terror outfits. The police officials said that they are verifying the veracity of the photograph. “We’re trying to find out if this is a fresh photograph or an old one,” said a police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
However, J&K’s director general of police, Shesh Paul Vaid, said that it was “unfortunate” that Sehrai’s son has joined the militants’ ranks.
“Sehrai Sahib is now in command. He should appeal to his son and other boys wielding guns to return. He should himself take lead in entering into a dialogue so that the youth of Kashmir are saved from the path of violence,” he told a newspaper
Kashmiri separatist leadership is often accused of inciting the local youth for violence but encouraging their own to pursue higher studies or take up lucrative jobs within or outside India.
The family said Sehrai’s son Junaid Ashraf Khan left his home in Srinagar’s Baghat area on March 23 to offer Friday prayers at a nearby mosque but did not return. “He told them that after namaz he would be going to Lal Chowk to get his phone repaired. The family waited for him till (Friday) evening but when he didn’t return it reported the matter to the police,” said the sources.
The police said Junaid’s brother Raashid Ashraf visited Srinagar’s Saddar police station on Saturday afternoon to report that his 26-year-old brother was missing since Friday.
Sahrai took over as the new head of TeH, virtually a breakaway wing of his and Geelani’s parent organization Jamaat-eIslami, on March 19.
The septuagenarian separatist leader had told Greater Kashmir newspaper in an interview that Aazadi camp in Kashmir does not have a global agenda, it has nothing to do with the Daesh and its ideology and that the organizations with an international agenda have no role in Kashmir.
A yet to be confirmed photo of Junaid Khan posing with a gun and a message that says he has joined the Hizb-ul-Mujahedin has gone viral