National News

MIRPUR (AJK), July 15 (APP): Twenty-two year old Kashmiri
freedom fighter Burhan Muzaffar Wani through his martyrdom has
captured the imagination of everyone on both sides of the Jammu
& Kashmir and revived the hopes of oppressed Kashmiris for freedom
after clampdown by Indian occupation forces on the 2010 mass uprising.
Independent observers believe that supreme sacrifice of
Burhan Wani has infused a renewed spirit in the Kashmiris indigenous struggle for freedom from the oppressive Indian rule which they
have been continuing for last 69 years.
The Kashmiris started their historic struggle for freedom on
July 13, 1931 when 22 valiant sons of the soil sacrificed their lives
in front of the Srinagar Central jail raising rebellion against
the then Dogra rule.
Burhan’s novel methods of recruitment and popularization by
appealing to the tech-savvy new generation of the Indian occupied
Jammu & Kashmir via social media, his tender age and
unconventionality had made him a hero, a youth icon and a leader
all in one go.
Not only Burhan, but his associates presented themselves as
saviors and heroes since 2010 so much so that their funerals became
a headache for the occupying Indian administrators. The people would
often barge in cordons and resort to stone pelting, and in reponse
face live bullets from occupation troops to create safe passage
for their colleague caught in the cordons.
A rebel – dead or alive- began to be seen as an equal threat
by the occupying Indian forces as “celebration of his martyrdom” as
a custom and culture began to revive and accelerate.
In April 2015, Burhan’s brother, Khalid was killed which many
termed a revenge for his steadfastness. In a recent video message
Burhan had appealed to the people to struggle and resist the Indian
occupation, and had threatened collaborators and house-negroes.
Wani was inarguably the most popular guerrilla commander that
Kashmir liberation movement has ever produced, One the fateful evening
of Friday, July 8, he and two of his associates were trapped
in Kokernag area of Islamabad (Anantnag) district. At about 6 pm,
the social-networking sites went abuzz, first with reports of a
cordon and then death of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen area commander Sartaj
Ahmad and another associate, Parvez Ahmad. Soon, after an hour,
sketchy reports of Burhan Wani being killed by 19 RR (Indian
occupying military – Rashteria Rifles) and Special Operation Group
emerged.
But as soon as the Indian media confirmed Wani’s death and that
of his two associates, with Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh
addressing the media in a jubilant tone, mourning descended on
occupied J&K with women wailing and men sobbing in almost
all parts of the valley.
Streets began to overflow with women, men and children, and
people began marching towards Kokernag, supposedly to recover and
retrieve the body of Burhan. At 12 midnight, reports of Indian
occupying forces firing at mourners on streets began to emerge. A
young boy from Qaimoh, Kulgam namely Zubair was the first
casualty.
Soon after, mobile and internet services were snapped by the
Indian government as Facebook and Twitter had already been flooded
by pro-freedom and pro-Burhan posts. As uncertainty over the
location of Burhan’s body prevailed, a strict curfew was imposed.
Pitched battles between forces and people continued through the
night as every possible symbol of Indian machinery became the target
of angry mourners. A sense of d‚j… vu prevailed as to if the mortal
remains of Burhan would be returned or his grave, too, would long
for his body like Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat.