Mannan Bashir Wani, a scholar at the Aligarh Muslim University pursuing doctorate in Geology, uploaded a gun-wielding photograph on the social media, shocking family, friends and the security grid.
Mannan Bashir Wani, a scholar at the Aligarh Muslim University pursuing doctorate in Geology, uploaded a gun-wielding photograph on the social media, shocking family, friends and the security grid.
Here are the ten developments on the story:
1.In a viral video, the family of the scholar has issued a passionate appeal for him to return home. “We will live in penury, but you should come home,” said his mother Shameema in the video. “Come back my son. I won’t force you for further studies and will keep you at home only. Please return to your parents, I am waiting for you.”
2.His father who is a lecturer said that the decision of his son has shocked him.
3.His elder brother Mudasir Wani said that Mannan had no apparent reason of picking up gun. “We couldn’t believe our eyes even after seeing Mannan along with a gun in a picture on Facebook. We had never imagined that he would join militancy because there was no apparent reason for him to do so,” he told Greater Kashmir.
4.Police is still investigating whether or not the scholar known for activism in AMU has joined militancy. “Once we complete the investigations, only then we will be able to say with authenticity whether he has joined militancy or not,” said top cop Muneer Khan. “It could be like someone might have photo-shopped his photograph and posted it on the social networking site.”
5.In Aligarh, a team of senior AMU officials sealed Manan’s room of Manan Bashir Wani, 26, immediately upon receiving a letter from the Superintendent of Police, Aligarh, regarding his alleged “nefarious” activities, university officials said.
6.However, Salahuddin who heads the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, in a statement, has announced that Wani has joined the outfit. “Claims of the government and the police that youth are joining militancy due to unemployment and other domestic issues stand punctured after a Ph.D scholar from AMU joined the Hizb,” local news agency CNS quoted Salahuddin as saying.
7.What motivated Mannan to join militancy remains unclear, however, a virtual friend of Wani’s attempts to add some background. “This guy, Manan, was my Facebook friend…A month or so, before, he wrote a story on fb [Facebook] that, while he was travelling to his home in a sumo [taxi], he was dragged down at five places, humiliated, leered and jeered by Naka parties: just for his looks and wear-up.”
8.AMU has reportedly set up a comprehensive inquiry into the entire matter and is also taking further necessary steps for beefing up security in the university’s hostels.
9.AMU officials said that he had left for his hometown shortly before the commencement of the winter vacations at AMU on January 6.
10.Wani was specializing in Applied Geology and had last year been acclaimed for his research paper on flood risk assessment at an international conference. Over the last five years, he had reportedly been involved in student politics. He has now been expelled by the university.