By Mashal Khan 

July 8th, 2016 was the day when a young son of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir was martyred by the Indian occupation forces along with his associates in South Kashmir. Burhan Muzaffar Wani was among the several Kashmiri youngsters who joined the Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the several Kashmiri groups fighting against the illegal Indian rule in the IIOJK. Burhan Wani was a talented young student and was pursuing a successful education career but the mistreatment of him and his brother in 2010 by the Indian Forces persuaded him to become part of an armed freedom struggle.

Burhan Wani frequently used social media to convey the wrath and atrocities faced by Kashmiris to the world and inspired Kashmiri youth to join him in the just cause for freedom. With time, he became an icon of the social media movement against the Indian occupation. He led the youth movement on social media and spoke to the world about Indian brutalities bluntly. On 8th July, 2016, Burhan was with his two other colleagues in South Kashmir when he was martyred by the Indian forces in a fake encounter. Following his martyrdom, an unprecedented protest took place in the valley that led to the first-ever United Nations Report on human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. His assassination proved to be an act of unforgettable monstrosity that created a havoc in the valley on one hand and reinvigorated the Kashmir freedom movement on the other. Wide-scale protests took place in the valley and the Indian forces in order to contain the protests resorted to firing on innocent civilians killing more than 60 people and injuring around another 5,500. The martyrdom of Burhan Wani and his story of valor inspired more people to join the indigenously armed rebellion and spurred the renewed Kashmir freedom movement.

Burhan Wani through his sacrifice, has come to rightly symbolize the indigenous Kashmiri struggle against the illegal Indian occupation. Since his martyrdom in 2016, hundreds of Kashmiri youth have lost their lives at the hands of Indian occupation forces in IIOJK.

According to the Press trust of India, the former COAS of India, General Bipin Rawat has admitted the use of human shields by stating that, “It’s a proxy war and proxy war is dirty war that is where innovation comes in. You fight a dirty war with innovations.” After this statement the Indian government was asked by Amnesty International India to ask the government ‘to prohibit firing pellet shotguns immediately in the Kashmir valley.’ Many Indian writers such as Manish Tewari said that, “It is quite evident that hard power cannot be the solution to Kashmir imbroglio. At best you can hold territory but not win the hearts and minds of the people.”

Another writer Arati Jerath claimed that ‘Modi’s Kashmir policy has failed as the muscular approach would not work in Kashmir.’ This admission is more significant when former GOC of Indian Northern Command Lt Gen. H.S. Panag writing in the Press Trust of India Blog stated that, “Unfortunately, rather than seizing political initiative, the state, trapped by ideology and political rhetoric, an excited jingoist media and public emotions fed by orchestrated nationalism, is suffering from inertia and continues to repeatedly ride on military strategy which is useless against an alienated mass.” Also the former Indian Army Chief admitted that, “We kill them and more would join. Infiltration can be controlled, but this cycle of recruitment of local youth can go on and on. Dialogue is a must for the maintenance of peace. So, let’s give peace a chance in the region.” The post-Wani martyrdom movement achieved the international attention and recognition of the Kashmir struggle which the status quo Kashmiri leadership could not achieve in several decades.