Hizbul Mujahideen puts out new Wani-like posters
Kashmir may be headed for a spurt in militancy with the banned organisation Hizbul Mujahideen putting up posters announcing its resurrection after the death of its commander Burhan Wani sparked waves of violence in the Valley.
The posters carry a photo of 11 militants dressed in combat gear and holding AK-47s in an orchard.
The poster was uploaded on the website of local daily Kashmir Reader, announcing the militants “would continue to challenge the enemy”.
Experts pointed out that the poster was similar to a photograph through which Wani and 10 associates announced their entry into armed insurgency two years ago.
That photograph had gone viral, signalling the arrival of a new age of militancy fronted by well-educated youth who were social-media savvy and not afraid to be identified. It also broke away from earlier practices of Kashmiri militants wearing masks.
But police said the armed men in the recent poster looked sombre, unlike Wani, whose youthful looks and words attracted many to armed insurgency in the Valley. Most of the men in the earlier photo have died. “The Burhan picture was full of life, the boys appeared stylish and suave. More than anything, they looked happy and convinced about what they were doing. This poster lacks that,’’ said a police source.
Wani’s killing triggered a twoweek-long spiral of violence in the Valley that left 47 people dead and nearly 2,000 people wounded.
In its poster, the Hizbul challenged the “enemy” with an Urdu couplet, “Hum Jung ye jari rakhein gay, Kufar ko hum lalkareingey, Hum leke raheingey hak apna, duniya ko bata kar dum lengey,’’ (We will continue this war and fight the enemy. We will secure our rights and prove to the world) says the couplet. ‘THOSE WITH VESTED STAKES BEHIND UNREST’
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said that the recent round of violence in Kashmir was orchestrated by those with vested interests and stakes in the unrest.
“Whenever economic activity starts picking up in Kashmir through increased tourism, sections with vested interests in a turmoil-hit Kashmir gang up to orchestrate another spate of violence and push the people (of the Valley) towards further economic deprivation,” a government spokesman quoted her saying.