‘Want my son back... Come back, Majid’
ANANTNAG: In the house of 20-yearold Majid Khan, a bright student and a promising footballer who joined the Lashkar-e-taiba (LET) last week, it’s heartbreak.
His mother, Ayesha Khan, weeps inconsolably and beats her chest as she implores her son to return. At least 10 women in the family’s sitting room hold her back as she shrieks and cries.
“I want my only son back.... Majid, come back. Come back and kill your father and me, and then go back again,” she cries. Majid, a second-year undergraduate commerce student at a government degree college in Anantnag, is the Let’s latest recruit in the Valley. He is a renowned footballer of the town and had passed Class 10 and 12 examinations with high scores.
Male relatives gathered in an adjacent room of the house said that Majid’s f ather, Irshad Ahmed Khan, a government employee who suffers from a weak heart, appealed to all “parties concerned to please give back my only son”.
“We want him back desperately,” said a cousin of Majid, who is also a college student. He broke down, saying he believes Majid was “brainwashed” into joining the ranks. Such a plea from a family to a son to shun the path of violence is rare in Kashmir where militants are usually revered.
Majid is the only son of the Khans. His two elder sisters are married. The sisters, along with their husbands and children, moved into the family home in Anantnag soon after they got to know that their brother reportedly joined the militants on Thursday night.
“Our parents tried his phone till late on Thursday. It was switched off. Then we got to know that a photo has come on social media saying Majid joined militancy,” said one of his sisters.
The picture mentioned is one of Majid brandishing an AK47 rifle — a photo that evoked strong reactions from his friends on Facebook. His wall is filled with posts like: “Come back bhaai…” and “Your parents need you…” Many believe the death of his close friend Yawar Nisar was a turning point. Nisar joined the militants in July and was killed in a gun battle with security forces barely a month later.