Zahid Ahmad Qureshi, a kashmiri youth who crack the prestigious IIT is not so lucky as UP brothers whose entire expanses of education will be borne by the Akhlish Yadav government.
In spite of getting the enviable rank of 89, Zahid is struggling to fix his fee to secure his berth in the IIT and no one in Kashmir has turned up to help this militancy victim so far.
“We don’t have even Rs 10,000 to pay my counselling fee. If not paid, my admission will be cancelled. I thought of selling my cell phone, but it is fetching only Rs 5,000,” Zahid, who hails from remote Dudwan village of Kupwara district, told dna.
Zahid was only two months old when militants killed his father in 1995 and his mother got remarried at times when he needs her most was left in the lap of his old grandparents.
His 96-year-old grandfather Azizullah Qureshi ran a small makeshift tea stall in Kupwara town 10 years ago to sustain his family. Despite facing extreme impoverishment, his old grandparents sent him to school to study.
A bright student since his childhood, Zahid joined Kashmir super 30 for coaching and in first attempt cracked the IIT.
Strangely enough, Zahid has received many phone calls appreciating his achievement, but no one offering any help.
“Everyone congratulated me. But none of them said anything that could console my worries. We approached banks for loan. But they said produce the admission letter first. How can I do it when I have not even paid my counselling fee of Rs 10,000?” he asked.
Left with no option, Zahid is now thinking of to forgo his IIT seat and join local degree college to complete his graduation.
“Unable to raise money, my grandparents are now suggesting that I join the degree college. Is there any other alternative? Though I have good rank, it is the money which matters now,” he said.
Update: People willing to help Zahid can email him at iamzahid123@gmail.com