Kashmiri separatists have called for a shutdown on Monday, to mark the third death anniversary of the slain terrorist Burhan Wani.
In a statement, the separatist group Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) have appealed to the people of Tral and adjoining areas to pay homage to Burhan Wani and other terrorists like him on July 8. JRL is a conglomerate of separatists headed by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik.
Reportedly, intelligence agencies have said that terrorists are planning to carry out an attack in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on July 8. Sources say that a new group of six to eight Pakistan terrorists have reached Pulwama.
Their main target is the highway stretch leading from the toll plaza at Chechikot in Awantipora to the four-way bridge at Galander in Pulwama. Burhan Wani’s hometown Tral is in the Pulwama district and hence is of great significance for the terrorists.
For several years Burhan Wani had managed to stay away from the grasp of the security forces. He was finally killed in a gunfight in Kokernag, Anantnag, on 8 July 2016.
As reported in 2016, several people had attempted to whitewash Wani’s image. Journalist Burkha Dutt termed him as a “son of school headmaster”. Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah was more worried about the aftermath of Wani’s death, instead of congratulating the army. Activist Kavita Krishnan, on the other hand, condemned the supposed “extrajudicial killing” of Wani.
In May, it was reported that Pakistan also wishes to glorify Burhan Wani. A Pakistan legislator, who is a member of Imran Khan’s PTI, would be playing the role of Burhan Wani in a movie. Last month National Conference (NC) leader Ali Mohammad Sagar eulogized anti-India terrorists alleging that BJP made inroads in Kashmir in areas where Burhan Wani and Zakir Musa were shot down in an encounter by the Indian Armed Forces.
