Srinagar, October 22: “Please ask my son to speak to me.” For the mother of Ajaz Ahmad Gillani, a 39-year-old from Uri’s Saidpora village, every passing day without a call from her son deepens the anguish.
A father of three, Gillani travelled to Russia about a month ago in search of work. His family has been unable to establish contact with him since October 13 and fears he may have been detained there, though his whereabouts remain unconfirmed.
Speaking to Kashmir Convener, Gillani’s mother said she had remained in regular contact with him after he left for Russia. Their last conversation, she said, took place on October 13.
“We had a good talk on the 13th, but after that we lost contact. Please, please, I request all of you to contact my son and ask him to talk to me,” she said.
Gillani’s wife, meanwhile, recalled that the family had been speaking to him over video calls until his phone became unreachable. She said he had briefly contacted them in September and told them he had run into trouble and that his phone had been taken away.
“We used to speak over video calls every morning and evening. We could not talk during the day because he was at work. We continued speaking until September 13, after which his phone was switched off whenever we tried to call him,” she said.
The following day, she said, Gillani briefly managed to speak to the family.
“He told us, ‘Some problem has happened here, so my phone has been taken. I can’t talk to you.’ After that, we lost all contact with him,” she said.
While Gillani’s wife recalled their last brief conversation in September, his mother said she last spoke to him on October 13. The family’s account does not clarify the circumstances surrounding the subsequent loss of contact.
Gillani’s three children have also appealed to the government to help bring their father home.
His son, a Class 4 student, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to intervene.
“My request to Modi ji, Amit Shah ji and S Jaishankar ji is that my father should be brought back. We cannot live without him. Please bring my father back,” he said.
His daughter made a similar appeal to Jaishankar, saying the family wanted nothing more than her father’s return.
“My only request to Jaishankar ji is to bring my father back. We don’t need anything else, just bring my father back,” she said.
The family has approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, seeking intervention through diplomatic channels to trace Gillani and facilitate his return.
For the family, however, the immediate concern is to establish where Gillani is and whether he is safe. His mother, wife and children continue to appeal to the authorities for help, hoping that their next contact with him will bring reassurance rather than more uncertainty.
Gillani’s case comes amid wider concerns over young men from Jammu and Kashmir allegedly being lured abroad with promises of employment and subsequently facing exploitation.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 17 human trafficking cases in 2024, compared with 10 in 2023 and eight in 2022. Forced labour is among the forms of exploitation reported in trafficking cases, while fraudulent recruitment arrangements can leave job seekers stranded abroad or exposed to working conditions they had not agreed to.
In early 2024, Azad Yousuf Kumar, 32, from Poshwan village in Awantipora, Pulwama district, was allegedly duped by agents who promised him a job in Dubai. He was taken to Russia and ended up near the Russia-Ukraine war zone, where he later suffered injuries.
The State Investigation Agency (SIA), Kashmir, has also conducted searches in Kulgam and Qazigund in connection with an alleged transnational trafficking network. Investigators suspected that unemployed youths were being taken abroad on the promise of jobs and forced into cyber-scam operations in Myanmar.
Crime Branch officials have cautioned job seekers and their families against fraudulent overseas recruitment, urging them to verify recruitment agencies, employment contracts and travel documents before accepting offers.
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