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London mosque, Yemeni nursing student, two bewildered families
The Indian Express reporters visited the homes and families of the 17 in an effort to piece together what drove them to join the world’s most savage regime.
He was a bright student with a Masters from the UK and doted upon by his rich father. She grew up in Doha with two working parents. Till the online world caught up with both.
NAME: Atif Wasim Mohammed
AGE: 24
FROM: Mancherial town, Telangana
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION: Masters in Science, London
STATUS: Went to Dubai, presumed killed in Syria
They kept calling, and a cold, impersonal message kept saying: the phone number was not in use anymore. That’s the most concrete evidence Mohammed Aleem has of what may have happened to his son.
Big collapsible gates and thick curtains hide the door to a first-floor flat in a three-storey building in Mancherial town in Telangana’s Adilabad district. A bunch of electricity bills and payment reminders are stuck to a wire in one corner. It is in this flat, in the building owned by his realtor-builder father, that Atif Wasim Mohammed spent his childhood along with his two brothers.
Except for Aleem, who comes over for a day or two sometimes, no one from the family stays here now. They prefer the anonymity of Hyderabad, where they won’t be asked about Atif.
In December last year, the family lost touch with the 24-year-old. In March, Atif’s eldest brother got a one-line message on his phone saying he had been killed in Syria.
“On March 23 or 24, I do not remember the date, my eldest son received the message.
Where in Syria? I don’t know. What happened? I don’t know. By the time I digested the news and called back the number, it was not in use any longer,” Aleem said.
It shouldn’t have turned out this way. Aleem’s youngest child, Atif was a pampered son and a good student. Given Aleem’s flourishing business, the children never lacked anything.
After he did well in Class X, the family sent Atif to Hyderabad, where he graduated in June 2011 with a B.Tech in Computer Science from Shadhan College of Engineering and Technology. By then, his mother, two brothers and a sister were also living in the city, in Rajendranagar. Atif spent his time studying, riding the expensive motorcyle his father had bought for him, or playing cricket.
In February 2012, Atif went to Greenwich University, London, to do his Masters. He came home next in June 2014, for his sister’s wedding, staying till September 2014. During this time, he got engaged to a Hyderabadi girl, who is currently doing Bachelor’s in Dental Surgery. That’s the last time the family saw Atif.
“He would call regularly and talk of life at the university, hostel and London. He cleared his Masters with 81 per cent marks. Then one day he called me to talk about job opportunities in Dubai. I am not literate, I have studied only up to Class VIII, so I told him if the job prospects are good, he should go to Dubai,” Aleem said.
On November 24, 2014, Atif called up to say he was going to Dubai on a visitor’s visa. “A couple of days later, he called saying he would be attending some job interviews.”
Aleem said they believed him all along. “He was a good son and a brilliant student and we thought he was really looking for a job. He used to call from mobile phones so we never knew where he was calling from.”
The calls were regular till December 11, when the long gaps began. “We could not call him at all after some time. Then in March, we got the message he had been killed,” Aleem said. “He said he was in Dubai, so how did he land up in Syria? I am not even sure if my son is really dead. But he has not called since then, so I have accepted it.”
The family kept it a secret fearing social stigma and only told police about Atif on May 15, when the Intelligence Bureau visited them based on inputs given by the Centre. A confidential note prepared by IB officials who interviewed the family contradicts Aleem’s version in some details.
According to the note, on December 17, 2014, Atif first contacted his elder brother from Turkey and informed that he was going to Syria to join the IS and would not come back, and told him to convey the same to their parents.
“Atif also contacted his fiancée and said he had made ‘hijrath’ to Syria, to join the IS, and requested her to marry someone else,” says the note.
Officials say both Atif’s family and fiancee didn’t tell anyone. They also say that the message sent to Atif’s brother from a Saudi number said he had been killed in Baghdad, Iraq, in mid-March.
Said a bewildered Aleem, “I did everything for Atif but he ended up like that… Not even in our wildest dreams we thought he would do such a thing. If he changed, it happened while he was in London. He was a good boy when he was here. He was fond of his bike, he would play cricket in the street… he was lively and chatty. Whether it is our native place or Hyderabad, we have always lived in good neighbourhoods. Atif never showed or displayed any extremist behaviour. How he got lured by the IS and what he was thinking when he went to Syria is a mystery.”
The IB also believes Atif got radicalised in London, during visits to a local mosque. “He took to surfing jehadi content on the Net and towards the later half of his stay in London, he became a recluse,” says its note.
The 62-year-old Aleem says they are trying to shut Atif out of their life now. His other sons help him run the business as they try to carry on “normally”.
That means shunning almost all the relatives and friends who know about Atif; the remaining think he lives abroad. No one asking about Atif is allowed into their house in Rajendrangar. The small offices from where Aleem does his business in Hyderabad and Macherial have no signboard or nameplate.
Atif’s friends who know what has happened say they have forgotten him. “Even his family does not talk about him anymore. Yehan pe tha tab woh aisa kuchch bhi nahin tha. Abhi jo ho gaya woh ho gaya, jaane do (While he was here, he showed no such signs. What has happened, has happened, let it be),” says an acquaintance.
NAME: Withheld
AGE: 18
FROM: Hyderabad; family settled in Doha
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION: Class XII
STATUS: Crossed over to Turkey; turned back
“The girl who recently arrived from Syria.” Mention this to anyone in an upscale colony in Langerhouz area of Hyderabad, and everyone knows instantly who you are talking about. The 18-year-old herself remains behind closed doors at her maternal uncle’s home, away from inquisitive eyes, away from uncomfortable questions, and especially away from the Internet.
If the immediate neighbours know her story, they are not willing to talk. Her family has kept it under wraps from everyone else.
“There were some rumours that someone from this street had gone to Iraq or Syria. I think they were all rumours. Her parents got scared and sent her to live here, or she is here as they were planning to get her married,” said a neighbour.
The girl’s parents, along with her three younger siblings, are based in Doha, having moved there in 1998. Her father is a computer programmer working with a telephone company, while her mother, a Bachelor’s in Arts, takes English tuitions.
Born in Hyderabad, the girl went to live in Doha when she was six. In 2011-12, she stayed with her mother in Hyderabad for nearly a year due to her grandmother’s ill-health, and did her Class X in the city before going back to Doha.
Her uncle, who will only identify himself as Mohammed, says the 18-year-old, “a quiet and studious child”, was lured by a 30-year-old Yemeni, Amani Abdul, towards the IS.
“It seems they both started browsing websites of the IS and were very influenced by their propaganda. She was doing well in her studies so her parents did not think much about her spending more time on the computer. But it appears the Yemeni slowly influenced her to accompany her to join the IS as fighters,” said Mohamed.
It was soon after she had completed Class XII that the girl came in touch with Abdul, a student of MS, Nursing, who came to their house to learn English from her mother.
“Abdul started motivating her towards deeni work (religious work), referring to bombings on Gaza city, and had discussions with her on the declaration of the ‘Caliphate’ (of the Islamic State) by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Abdul told her serving the warriors was a good deed which would be rewarded by Allah. When the girl fell into her trap, Abdul sold her car, obtained visas to Turkey and arranged air tickets from Doha to Istanbul,” a relative said.
She left home without informing her parents, and Abdul and she reached Istanbul on October 24, 2014. They were reportedly joined by two Turkish women, and all four stayed together in a room at Grand Hyatt. After a few days, Abdul told her they could not enter Syria due to the tight border security. Later, he reportedly offered that the 18-year-old marry an IS fighter. When she refused, Abdul is said to have taken all her belongings and kept her captive for about three weeks. Finally she managed to escape and, with the help of a Turkish family, reported at the Indian Embassy in Istanbul, from where was sent to Doha.
On December 19, 2014, her parents and Qatar authorities sent her to Hyderabad.
“Her parents bought a ticket on the next available flight. Her father felt that if she continued to live in Doha, she would be prey of online recruitment again,” said a relative.
Police have since visited the girl, taken her statement and counselled her. They have also advised the family to keep her away from online propaganda.
“We don’t want anyone to meet her; the bad publicity will only cause her more harm,” the relative said. “She has not committed any crime; she did not join the IS as such.”
London mosque, Yemeni nursing student, two bewildered families | The Indian Express
The Indian Express reporters visited the homes and families of the 17 in an effort to piece together what drove them to join the world’s most savage regime.
He was a bright student with a Masters from the UK and doted upon by his rich father. She grew up in Doha with two working parents. Till the online world caught up with both.
NAME: Atif Wasim Mohammed
AGE: 24
FROM: Mancherial town, Telangana
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION: Masters in Science, London
STATUS: Went to Dubai, presumed killed in Syria
They kept calling, and a cold, impersonal message kept saying: the phone number was not in use anymore. That’s the most concrete evidence Mohammed Aleem has of what may have happened to his son.
Big collapsible gates and thick curtains hide the door to a first-floor flat in a three-storey building in Mancherial town in Telangana’s Adilabad district. A bunch of electricity bills and payment reminders are stuck to a wire in one corner. It is in this flat, in the building owned by his realtor-builder father, that Atif Wasim Mohammed spent his childhood along with his two brothers.
Except for Aleem, who comes over for a day or two sometimes, no one from the family stays here now. They prefer the anonymity of Hyderabad, where they won’t be asked about Atif.
In December last year, the family lost touch with the 24-year-old. In March, Atif’s eldest brother got a one-line message on his phone saying he had been killed in Syria.
“On March 23 or 24, I do not remember the date, my eldest son received the message.
Where in Syria? I don’t know. What happened? I don’t know. By the time I digested the news and called back the number, it was not in use any longer,” Aleem said.
It shouldn’t have turned out this way. Aleem’s youngest child, Atif was a pampered son and a good student. Given Aleem’s flourishing business, the children never lacked anything.
After he did well in Class X, the family sent Atif to Hyderabad, where he graduated in June 2011 with a B.Tech in Computer Science from Shadhan College of Engineering and Technology. By then, his mother, two brothers and a sister were also living in the city, in Rajendranagar. Atif spent his time studying, riding the expensive motorcyle his father had bought for him, or playing cricket.
In February 2012, Atif went to Greenwich University, London, to do his Masters. He came home next in June 2014, for his sister’s wedding, staying till September 2014. During this time, he got engaged to a Hyderabadi girl, who is currently doing Bachelor’s in Dental Surgery. That’s the last time the family saw Atif.
“He would call regularly and talk of life at the university, hostel and London. He cleared his Masters with 81 per cent marks. Then one day he called me to talk about job opportunities in Dubai. I am not literate, I have studied only up to Class VIII, so I told him if the job prospects are good, he should go to Dubai,” Aleem said.
On November 24, 2014, Atif called up to say he was going to Dubai on a visitor’s visa. “A couple of days later, he called saying he would be attending some job interviews.”
Aleem said they believed him all along. “He was a good son and a brilliant student and we thought he was really looking for a job. He used to call from mobile phones so we never knew where he was calling from.”
The calls were regular till December 11, when the long gaps began. “We could not call him at all after some time. Then in March, we got the message he had been killed,” Aleem said. “He said he was in Dubai, so how did he land up in Syria? I am not even sure if my son is really dead. But he has not called since then, so I have accepted it.”
The family kept it a secret fearing social stigma and only told police about Atif on May 15, when the Intelligence Bureau visited them based on inputs given by the Centre. A confidential note prepared by IB officials who interviewed the family contradicts Aleem’s version in some details.
According to the note, on December 17, 2014, Atif first contacted his elder brother from Turkey and informed that he was going to Syria to join the IS and would not come back, and told him to convey the same to their parents.
“Atif also contacted his fiancée and said he had made ‘hijrath’ to Syria, to join the IS, and requested her to marry someone else,” says the note.
Officials say both Atif’s family and fiancee didn’t tell anyone. They also say that the message sent to Atif’s brother from a Saudi number said he had been killed in Baghdad, Iraq, in mid-March.
Said a bewildered Aleem, “I did everything for Atif but he ended up like that… Not even in our wildest dreams we thought he would do such a thing. If he changed, it happened while he was in London. He was a good boy when he was here. He was fond of his bike, he would play cricket in the street… he was lively and chatty. Whether it is our native place or Hyderabad, we have always lived in good neighbourhoods. Atif never showed or displayed any extremist behaviour. How he got lured by the IS and what he was thinking when he went to Syria is a mystery.”
The IB also believes Atif got radicalised in London, during visits to a local mosque. “He took to surfing jehadi content on the Net and towards the later half of his stay in London, he became a recluse,” says its note.
The 62-year-old Aleem says they are trying to shut Atif out of their life now. His other sons help him run the business as they try to carry on “normally”.
That means shunning almost all the relatives and friends who know about Atif; the remaining think he lives abroad. No one asking about Atif is allowed into their house in Rajendrangar. The small offices from where Aleem does his business in Hyderabad and Macherial have no signboard or nameplate.
Atif’s friends who know what has happened say they have forgotten him. “Even his family does not talk about him anymore. Yehan pe tha tab woh aisa kuchch bhi nahin tha. Abhi jo ho gaya woh ho gaya, jaane do (While he was here, he showed no such signs. What has happened, has happened, let it be),” says an acquaintance.
NAME: Withheld
AGE: 18
FROM: Hyderabad; family settled in Doha
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION: Class XII
STATUS: Crossed over to Turkey; turned back
“The girl who recently arrived from Syria.” Mention this to anyone in an upscale colony in Langerhouz area of Hyderabad, and everyone knows instantly who you are talking about. The 18-year-old herself remains behind closed doors at her maternal uncle’s home, away from inquisitive eyes, away from uncomfortable questions, and especially away from the Internet.
If the immediate neighbours know her story, they are not willing to talk. Her family has kept it under wraps from everyone else.
“There were some rumours that someone from this street had gone to Iraq or Syria. I think they were all rumours. Her parents got scared and sent her to live here, or she is here as they were planning to get her married,” said a neighbour.
The girl’s parents, along with her three younger siblings, are based in Doha, having moved there in 1998. Her father is a computer programmer working with a telephone company, while her mother, a Bachelor’s in Arts, takes English tuitions.
Born in Hyderabad, the girl went to live in Doha when she was six. In 2011-12, she stayed with her mother in Hyderabad for nearly a year due to her grandmother’s ill-health, and did her Class X in the city before going back to Doha.
Her uncle, who will only identify himself as Mohammed, says the 18-year-old, “a quiet and studious child”, was lured by a 30-year-old Yemeni, Amani Abdul, towards the IS.
“It seems they both started browsing websites of the IS and were very influenced by their propaganda. She was doing well in her studies so her parents did not think much about her spending more time on the computer. But it appears the Yemeni slowly influenced her to accompany her to join the IS as fighters,” said Mohamed.
It was soon after she had completed Class XII that the girl came in touch with Abdul, a student of MS, Nursing, who came to their house to learn English from her mother.
“Abdul started motivating her towards deeni work (religious work), referring to bombings on Gaza city, and had discussions with her on the declaration of the ‘Caliphate’ (of the Islamic State) by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Abdul told her serving the warriors was a good deed which would be rewarded by Allah. When the girl fell into her trap, Abdul sold her car, obtained visas to Turkey and arranged air tickets from Doha to Istanbul,” a relative said.
She left home without informing her parents, and Abdul and she reached Istanbul on October 24, 2014. They were reportedly joined by two Turkish women, and all four stayed together in a room at Grand Hyatt. After a few days, Abdul told her they could not enter Syria due to the tight border security. Later, he reportedly offered that the 18-year-old marry an IS fighter. When she refused, Abdul is said to have taken all her belongings and kept her captive for about three weeks. Finally she managed to escape and, with the help of a Turkish family, reported at the Indian Embassy in Istanbul, from where was sent to Doha.
On December 19, 2014, her parents and Qatar authorities sent her to Hyderabad.
“Her parents bought a ticket on the next available flight. Her father felt that if she continued to live in Doha, she would be prey of online recruitment again,” said a relative.
Police have since visited the girl, taken her statement and counselled her. They have also advised the family to keep her away from online propaganda.
“We don’t want anyone to meet her; the bad publicity will only cause her more harm,” the relative said. “She has not committed any crime; she did not join the IS as such.”
London mosque, Yemeni nursing student, two bewildered families | The Indian Express
