Lured by a Job offer, Now a Hostage
Srinagar, Mar 07: A tale of broken dreams and a family shattered by desperation. Faizan Rasool, a 28-year-old from Safakadal locality in central Kashmir’s Srinagar, had stepped out of his home with big dreams for a good future. But instead of securing employment, he landed in the clutches of traffickers in Myanmar.
Now, his family is weeping for his safe return, unable to arrange for the ₹4.5 lakh demanded by his abductors. Her cries echo in their small house, each corner of which is filled with memories of the son she will never see. “He departed with dreams in his eyes… Now we don’t even know if he is alive,” she cries holding his photograph from years back.
Faizan was enticed by his friend, who assured him of a job in Thailand. He was smuggled in and dumped in Myanmar, and kidnappers now control his future. The family manages to survive just enough and lacks the capacity to arrange the ransom.
In a heartless irony, another Kashmiri man—named Faizan, no less—had returned home only moments before having paid the same sum. His family is one of the poorest in the area, and now they are mired in debt after bailing him out.
This fear is becoming increasingly prevalent. Desperate young men are being lured into employment scams, getting them to cross perilous borders. Others are being coerced into working in cybercrime groups; some are just being held for ransom.
Faizan’s father, his voice shaking, begs in desperation: “We are helpless. If the government does not act, we may never see our son again.”
With the traffickers growing more bold and families rendered helpless, some action must be taken now before another Kashmiri youth disappears into the black hole of such scams. Faizan’s family hopes, prays, and begs—for a miracle that is unlikely to occur.— (KB)