Thread by @DevjyotGhoshal

Thread.

I've made two trips to Jewar in the last 24 hours to find out more about the 17-year-old shooter at #Jamia - who exactly he was and why he did what he did.

This is what I found.

#JamiaShooting #CAA_NRC_NPR

in.reuters.com/article/india-…

Family members, neighbours, and a school official in Jewar described the boy as quiet and ordinary. His act of violence took them by surprise.

In recent days, he had become even more withdrawn.

“We tried talking to him but we couldn’t get him to open up,” said his father.

In social media posts and conversations with some classmates, he spoke of restoring Hindu pride and expressed admiration for a right-wing activist whom police have accused of fomenting violence.

“For years, he had said he was going to do something big," a classmate told me.

WhatsApp messages with another classmate, seen by Reuters, show that he asked for several thousand rupees three days before the shooting incident, without revealing why.

There are questions over how the boy acquired the country-made gun.

Some classmates said they were aware of his support for Hindu nationalism for at least three years, partly from his social media posts.

Classmates said he idolised right-wing activist Deepak Sharma, whom police accused of instigating violence against Afghan students in 2018.

At least two social media profiles of the boy - on Facebook, and WhatsApp - had Deepak Sharma in the main display picture.

Sharma said he remembered meeting the boy and recognised a photograph with him.

“I am not in touch with him,” Sharma told me.

Hours after the shooting on Thursday, small groups of people walked past the boy’s house in Jewar, shouting Hindu slogans in support of his actions.

“What he did was unconstitutional, but we are with him,” a neighbour said, declining to be named.

Ends.