Abu Tahir, who made appeals from his Facebook face, has disappeared from Facebook following media reports about him
TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Kozhikode: Even as the official confirmation is awaited, confusion still shrouds over the absence of a former local journalist, Abu Tahir, from Kerala, alleged to have joined Islamic extremist groups outside India.
The issue came to news headlines after several days after a Malayalam channel aired a report on June 1, 2015 stating that a former journalist from Palakkad district had joined the Al-Qaeda linked Al Nusra Front fighting against the government in Syria. It didn’t name anyone.
Abu Tahir under the flag of Al Nusra (picture appeared on his Facebook wall)/ Courtesy Janam TV
One of the Malayalam newspapers later reported that a Malayali journalist had joined the ISIS adding that this was confirmed at the 12 State DGPs’ meet, recently organised by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi.
“The journalist was working with a Malayalam newspaper in Palakkad and was attracted to the ideology of the ISIS during that time. He worked with the newspaper only for a short period during which time he established links with ISIS through the social media,” the Malayalam newspaper reported. Abu Tahir, reportedly, travelled to Syria from Doha in Qatar, where he was working as a part time journalist with a local publication. Reports followed stating that the person referred to in the Malayalam newspaper was the same as the one reported by the Malayalam channel.
But, the Facebook status updates of Abu Tahir said that he is a part of Jabhat Al-Nusra, the Syrian wing of Al-Qaeda. He further, through the status, appealed to fellow Muslims to join his organization in Syria for jihad. Besides, Abu Tahir compares Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Syrian president Bashar Al Assad saying the duo was equal, the only difference was that their parents were not same.
“I am not ISIL, rumours are being spread. ISIL is killing Muslims unlawfully. I am with Al Nusra, the Syrian wing of Al Qaeda,” his Facebook status read. He further put the blame on ISIS alleging that the organisation was undertaken by Khawarijis, a group of extremists, which initially supported the authority of Ali ibn Abu Talib, the son-in-law and cousin of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), then later rejected his leadership and killed him.
“We don’t kill anybody without reasons,” the post also said.
Meanwhile, a local newspaper published the interview of the mother of Abu Tahir after visiting her home in Palakkad. As per the introduction of the interview, the diabetic mother had lost track of her son and she was distressed knowing that Tahir’s tale figured high in the DGPs conference. “In 2012, Abu joined the Palakkad bureau of a regional newspaper. He worked there for six months, but chose to leave. He went to Doha in Qatar in October 2013. He joined a firm as an accountant in December,” the interview said.
“Abu told us he was going for Umrah in Saudi Arabia on July 14, 2014, on a 15-day visit visa. My husband sent a vehicle and his friend to receive Abu at Riyadh and bring him to the town where he worked. But Abu did not contact them. He vanished and did not respond to calls from the family. After 15 days, Abu phoned me and said that he was well. He did not disclose his location. He disconnected after speaking for a few minutes. The last call my son made to me was in September 2014,” the interview added.
However, following media reports, Abu Tahir has disappeared from the Facebook.