The family of Farhaj Ashan, in Hyderabad, are yet to get a confirmation on his whereabouts hours after the terror attack in New Zealand. Last his family heard from him was before he left to the Noor mosque near his home for Friday prayers. He is one among the nine persons of Indian nationality who are presumed missing after the terror attack.
Farhaj is a 31-year-old software engineer living with his wife, three-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son at Christchurch in New Zealand. Farhaj went to New Zealand to do his masters at the University of Auckland in 2010 and has since then been lived with his family in the country and has citizenship.
Back in Hyderabad, Mohammad Sayeeduddin, the 68-year-old father of Farhaj does not know what has happened to his son. He last ate something before 8 AM in the morning when his daughter-in-law called him about the attack that took place sometime around 6 am on Friday. He has since then been making frantic calls to find out the whereabouts of his son all Friday.
Farhaj had gone to one of the two mosques targetted by gun-wielding white supremacist terrorists that have created a loss of 49 lives. The father last spoke to his son on Thursday evening.
“Everyone has come back...but not my son,” said the father who has reached out to the Ministry of External Affairs, the New Zealand high commission in New Delhi and the police commissioner of Christchurch where the terror attack took place. He is yet to hear back from any of them. The Hyderabad Member of parliament Assauddin Owaisi has tweeted seeking help from Sushma Swaraj to help the family trace their missing son.
Farhaj Ahsan, a person of Indian origin, was also reported to have gone to the same mosque and is currently missing. His family in Hyderabad, I request immediate assistance to his family as well. His family’s contact details are available with me & I’ll share the same with you. pic.twitter.com/KYwBcs2yTM
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) March 15, 2019
“We are still waiting for some information about my son. As the security situation there was tight we decided to wait for more information. I last spoke to him yesterday evening time in New Zealand. I talked to his wife and children,” said Sayeeduddin, who is undecided on if he or someone from the family should fly to New Zealand.
In the meantime, Sanjiv Kohli the High Commissioner of India to New Zealand has tweeted saying there are nine Indian nationals who went to the mosque and are presumed missing as there is no official confirmation from the New Zealand government on their whereabouts. Another person from Hyderabad, Mohammad Khursheed Jahangir, has been confirmed by his family to have been injured in the terror attack.