Rajkummar Rao will be seen as Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh in his next film, Omerta. Directed by Hansal Mehta, the film will chronicle the series of terrorist activities he participated in. Also known as Umar Sheikh, the 44-year-old man of Pakistani origin has links to some of the world’s most dreaded terrorist organisations, including Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al Qaida.
Omar first hit headlines when he was arrested in 1994 in a case related to the kidnappings of four foreigners from India’s capital. Omar Sheikh, who was associated with Harkat-ul-Ansar then, befriended the tourists under a pseudo name, Rohit Sharma. His organisation demanded 10 Kashmiri prisoners to be freed in exchange of these tourists. The police, however, rescued all the abducted foreigners and arrested Sheikh.
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Born to Muslim Pakistani parents, Saeed and Qaissia, in Wanstead, east London in 1973, Omar was the eldest of three siblings and his parents, who emigrated from Pakistan in 1968, ran a prosperous clothing business. The store continues to function in London.
According to a schoolmate of Omar, who wrote an article in The Guardian, Omar was a member of the British arm-wrestling squad during his schooling days when he studied at the private Forest school in Snaresbrook, east London. Alex Hannaford wrote in the article, “He was the toughest boy in school but he was able to laugh at himself.” Hannaford further claims Omar discussed the worsening situation in the Balkans when he was merely 15-year-old and often fought with younger kids at school.
Omar’s family moved to Pakistan in 1987 and he joined Aitchison college in Lahore, but was soon expelled from the college for fighting.
Omar’s family returned to London in 1991 where he later joined the London School of Economics. This was the phase of his life when he was reportedly introduced to the idea of terrorism and the world of Islamic militancy. According to a Telegraph.uk report, Omar saw videos of atrocities against Bosnian Muslims during his stint at LSE and which reportedly transformed the public schoolboy into a terrorist.
In 1999, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen hijacked Indian flight IC-814 on its way to Delhi from Nepal. The terrorists demanded a safe passage for Omar Saeed, and two other terrorists, in exchange of the passengers. The Indian government met the demand.He quickly rose in the ranks after that. His name constantly got featured in newspapers and media in general.
Meanwhile, he was working on a plan that would change the way terrorists were dealt with. He masterminded the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl. The video of his Pearl’s beheading was later circulated across the globe and terrorised the entire world. It was bound to get the focus back on Omar Sheikh.
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In July 2002, Omar was sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for Pearl’s murder. According to a report in The Independent, Omar threatened to kill the judge after he was awarded the sentence. It quoted Omar in a statement as syaing, “I will see whether who wants to kill me, will kill me first, or get himself killed ... It is a decisive war between Islam and Kafirs, and everyone is individually proving on which side he is.”
Currently, Omar is awaiting the hearing for his plea against the judgement and is living in a Pakistani jail.
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