The picture of Haroon Abbas Wani with an AK-47 rifle has gone viral on social media recently. (Source: Twitter) The picture of Haroon Abbas Wani with an AK-47 rifle has gone viral on social media recently. (Source: Twitter)

A 29-year-old MBA graduate in Jammu and Kashmir has apparently joined the militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. The picture of Haroon Abbas Wani with an AK-47 rifle had gone viral on social media recently, prompting the Army to assure all possible help if he shuns the path of violence.

A resident of Ghat area of Doda district, Wani is the second youth joining militant ranks from the district over the past three months. He is a master of business administration degree holder from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra.

“Yesterday, we came to know about Wani joining a terror group… I hope good sense will prevail upon him and he will return to the mainstream,” said Maj. Gen. Rajiv Nanda, general officer commanding (GOC), Delta Force. “If he returns, we are there to help him. We can guide him but it’s he, who has to choose path for him.”

Nanda further said Wani was not at his native village, but in Jammu since the last two-three years and it could not be immediately known who motivated and misguided him to join militant ranks. “The youth belongs to an educated family and has put them to a lot of trouble (by his decision). I was moved to see the video of his ailing mother and other family members on social media, who are begging him to return back as his brother’s marriage is scheduled on the 9th of this month,” the army officer said.

Wani’s family has made an emotional appeal for his return. “The biggest jihad is to serve elderly parents. There is no need for jihad as we are happy,” his aunt said in a video message, adding that his decision had left them ashamed. “Your mother and father has fallen sick and they need you very badly. Please return.”

His uncle, Farooq Ahmad Wani, said he was very good at studies and showed no inclination of joining any terror group ever. He was working in a private company in Jammu and “we are unable to understand who lured him into this path”.

In July, 25-year-old Abid Hussain Bhat had joined the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit and was killed along with another militant in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district later that month.

With PTI inputs

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