Mothers should plead their children to leave arms and return, says J&K DGP

Police and Army addressing a press conference in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. (Express Photo: Shuaib Masoodi)

Jammu and Kashmir DGP SP Vaid on Sunday appealed to the mothers of those who are tempted to take up arms to call them back, asking them to quit militancy. “I would like to ask all mothers to appeal to their children to leave arms and come back,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

This comes days after Majid Arshid Khan, a young footballer from Anantnag, had gone to join militant ranks before returning home.

Majid’s mother Asyea had appealed to her son to return in a video which had gone viral. Welcoming Majid’s change of heart, J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had said, “A mother’s love prevailed. Her impassioned appeal helped in getting Majid, an aspiring footballer, back home. Every time a youngster resorts to violence, it is his family which suffers the most.’’

Mufti had further said her government was “committed towards a rehabilitation policy that secures their future and ensures that they are not harassed”.

Family of twenty-year-old Majid Khan, at their home in Anantnag, Kashmir. (Express Photo: Shuaib Masoodi)

IGP, Kashmir, Muneer Khan had said Majid neither surrendered, nor was he arrested. “He has returned home,’’ he said. Police sources said while Majid is still in custody, his family members have met him.

Majid had contacted his family and said he wanted to return, hours after the IGP, on Wednesday, appealed to local militants to return. Soon, police and Army too came to know that Majid wanted to return. Police assured the family that no cases will be registered against him if he returned, said officials.

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The Lashkar-e-Taiba in a statement issued on Friday, “clarified that Majid Arshad Khan was permitted to leave for his home on the request of his mother, since he was the only guarantor in his household.” “The freedom struggle of Kashmir is being brought up by the sacrifices of the whole nation and if one mother calls upon…son to get back to her, we will respect her decision,” the statement said.