Omar ensures militant’s footballer son gets Visa

Srinagar: It was an unusual gift for an aspiring footballer Basharat Bashir Baba from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who stepped in time to ensure that he got his passport despite objections from CID.Passport was denied to Baba who needed it to travel to Spain and Brazil for special professional training in Football Clubs. But the CID department did not give clearance to him as his father was a militant.

Later, it came to light that his father was involved in militancy when Basharat was not even born. Basharat Bashir is one of the promising footballers in the valley selected for an international football tournament. After going through news reports of denial of passport, Omar immediately intervened and asked the CID to give clearance to Bashir for his passport. Omar pointed out that he cannot be punished for a fault which his father has committed. The Chief Minister has several times made it clear that no person should be barred from getting a passport even if their kith and kin are named in cases of militancy. In case of Haj pilgrims also, the same method was adopted even if their kith and kin were found involved in such cases. The Chief Minister advised the concerned authorities to clear the passports of all Haj pilgrims. Bureau Report