Dad offers 5,000 dirhams reward for missing Indian boy in Sharjah
Sharjah, July 18: Mohammad Aftab Alam, the father of a 15-year-old missing Indian boy in Sharjah, on Thursday offered a reward of 5,000 dirhams to anyone who finds his son.
Mohammed Pervez has been missing from his home in Sharjah's Muweilah area since July 4. It is believed that the boy got upset with his mother who stopped him from watching a show on YouTube and snatched his smartphone, Gulf News reported.
"I would just like to see him come home safe. We have been praying all day since he's disappeared," Alam told Gulf News.
"We will give 5,000 dirhams to anyone who produces any kind of information about my son. anything, I just want him back."
On Thursday, Alam travelled with Sharjah police authorities to Kalba, Fujairah, in search of his son. They were accompanied by child protection officials. The police said they will not intervene in any efforts made by the family to find their son.
"A three-member team of the child protection team took me to Kalba where my brother Mohammad Firoze Alam lives. We were hoping to find some clues there," Alam said.
Several leads have been chased since Pervez went missing but none has panned out so far, the report said.
As per reports, the Grade IX student got upset and went missing after his mother chided him for watching a historical Hindi drama on YouTube and snatched his smartphone.
The boy's father said Pervez had just 8 dirhams with him.
"How long can it possibly last? At first we thought he would come back in the afternoon but when he didn't show up until late evening we got worried and alerted the police.
Now, his desperate family has been holding onto hope and fervently praying for the boy's safe return.
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Mamata demands PM's apology over 'Bankim da' remark in Lok Sabha
Cooch Behar (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he has insulted novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by calling him "Bankim da".
Addressing a rally in Cooch Behar district, Banerjee said the PM was not even born when the country achieved Independence and yet chose to address one of Bengal's greatest cultural icons casually.
"You did not even show him the minimum respect he deserves. You should apologise for this, to the nation," she said.
The flashpoint was PM's reference to the author during a discussion in Lok Sabha on Monday to commemorate 150 years of the national song, Vande Mataram, written by Chattopadhyay.
TMC MP Saugata Roy objected to the use of the suffix 'da' and urged the PM to say 'Bankim babu' instead.
Modi immediately accepted the sentiment, saying, "I will say Bankim 'babu'. Thank you, I respect your sentiments," and asked in a lighter vein whether he could still address Roy as 'dada'.
Targeting the BJP, Banerjee claimed that it will destroy Bengal's culture, language and heritage if it comes to power in the state.
She also claimed that the assembly elections in the state will be declared soon after publication of the final electoral rolls following the SIR exercise, so that no one can challenge it in court.
