FOOTBALLER WHO JOINED LET BACK
RETURN 20yrold Majid Khan decided to give up arms after his mother’s appeals
Majid Khan (20), who joined the LeT last week, surrendered after his mother’s tearful appeal to him to return in a video that went viral on social media, police said. A resident of Anantnag, J&K, Khan is a promising goalkeeper.
A 20-year-old Kashmiri man who had joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group surrendered after his mother launched a tearful appeal to him to return in a video widely shared on social media, police said on Friday.
A resident of Anantnag in south Kashmir, Maj id Khan was a bright student and a popular goalkeeper before he became LeT’s latest recruit in the Valley last week, triggering grief among family members and neighb ours.
Khan, dressed in a black pheran (a traditional Kashmiri overcoat) and a skull cap, was presented before the media at army headquarters herein south Kashmir. He reportedly took up arms after a close friend was killed in a shootout with security forces this year.
A photograph of Khan brandishing an AK 47 rifle was shared widely on social media last week, leaving his parents distraught. HT was the first to report on their plight that was caught on a short video. “Majid, come back. Come back and kill your father and me, and then go back again,” the mother implored as a dozen women tried to console her.
Two local news agencies, G NS and K NS, quoted M ah mood Shah, a self-styled chief of LeT in J&K, as saying Khan was“permitted” to leave on his mother’s request.
Police said such surrenders have occurred in the past.
“But today, because of social media, the wailing of the mother is a thousand times more projected,” state police chief SP Vaid told HT.
The army refused to give details of Khan’s return, with major general BS Raju only say- ing it had received intelligence that the man had told his family about his wish to come back.
“Maj id had decided on his own to come back having real is ed the folly of the path he had taken,” Raju said, assuring that no charges were brought against the man, a second-year commerce undergraduate.
Initially there was confusion over whether Khan was caught or had surrendered after an encounter. Police said it was neither.
“He has come back on his own. His parents and friends were instrumental in getting him back,” said inspector general of police, Kashmir range, Muneer Khan, who had said a day ago that the government was considering a new surrender policy for militants.
Last month, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had told police to ensure the surrender of local militants.
Khan has two elder sisters who are married. He had made a name for himself as the goal keeper of an An ant na g-based cricket and football club, which he joined when he was in Class 9. A cousin of Khan told HT that he me this family on Friday. Khan’s father, I rs had Ahmed Khan—a government employee—told reporters, “We had no support apart from Majid.
He is our only son. I had a heart attack after news came he has gone to join militants. I am happy with his return and want to thank everyone involved.”
Chief minister Mufti also welcomed Majid back.
“A mother’s love prevailed. Her impassioned appeal helped in getting Majid, an aspirin g footballer, back home. Every time a youngster resorts to violence, it is his family which suffers the most,” she tweeted.
Former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted: “If that’s true then it’s a very good development. Hope he can go back to leading a normal life& not be harassed.”
PA KO PENS FIRE ON VILLAGES I NJ& K’ S PO ON CH
JAMMU: Pakistani troops on Friday fired at Indian posts and forward villages along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, an Indian Army official said. Defence spokesperson Colonel N NJ os hi said the firing was unprovoked and indiscriminate and Pakistani army used small arms, automatic weapons, and mortars on Indian posts from 7.45am.