Clarion India
NEW DELHI — Days after Delhi Police claimed it has arrested a Delhi-based Kashmiri couple over alleged ISIS links, their family has questioned the veracity of the charges slapped on them. The family says the couple is being victimized simply for their Kashmiri identity.
Speaking to the media, the family from Srinagar’s Shivpora area said they were shocked to hear about the arrest of their son Jahanzaib Sami Wani and his wife Hina Bashir Beg.
The police had conducted a raid on the apartment of the couple at Jamia Nagar here at 3 in the morning and took them away. “My brother has no link with any organisation. You can check his profile with the Jammu and Kashmir Police,” Sami’s sister Sehrish told Kashmir Observer.
The family said none of the relatives or acquaintances has been allowed to meet the couple in police custody. “They didn’t allow him to meet my brother. He could see him [Wani] from a distance, he didn’t see my sister-in-law. They didn’t show him any FIR or document,” Sehrish was quoted as saying, in a report published in Scroll.in.
According to the report, Wani’s father has travelled to Delhi to personally handle the case of his son and daughter-in-law. The couple lived in Delhi since October 2019. They moved in here after their marriage while Kashmir was under a communication lockdown. Wani is an IT professional and worked with a UK- based tech company.
According to the family, the company asked Wani to shift to Delhi as he could not work from Srinagar due to the snapping of the internet link there. Wani, a Bachelor in Technology, had started working in Srinagar last year. Wife Beg has a degree in business administration.
Various media outlets have cited unidentified sources to say the couple was involved in spreading ISIS propaganda. The reports claimed that the police has seized incriminating material in this connection. According to the family, their son is inclined towards Islam and has interest in reading Islamic literature. They said Wani is not politically active.
“My brother and sister-in-law are very religious,” the scroll.in report quoted Wani’s sister saying. “They are observant Muslims. They read religious books and the Holy Quran. How is that incriminating material? Is reading religious literature a crime?”
The media has also accused the couple of orchestrating anti-CAA protests though such reports failed to substantiate the charge. The family is also upset with the picture released in themedia that showed the uncovered hair of their daughter-in- law.
