Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's most wanted militant Burhan Wani resurfaces on Facebook
The 5.38 minute video shows Wani in a battle fatigue sitting behind an AK 47
By : Yusuf Jameel
Update: 2015-08-26 16:30 GMT
Srinagar: Weeks after group photos and a video showing Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's new recruits in military fatigues and brandishing AK 47 rifles in an apple orchard of south Kashmir went viral, the outfit’s teenaged ‘commander’ Burhan Wani has released a video in which he while addressing his peers directly seeks their support for the “cause” for which “we have left our families and worldly comforts and pleasures”.
The 5.38 minute video is now available on the Facebook and shows Wani who has emerged as the 'poster boy' of new age militancy in Kashmir in a battle fatigue sitting behind an AK 47. A copy of the Qur'an is placed alongside a pistol while two young men holding AK-47s stand guard.
He starts his discourse with expressing his ‘gratitude’ to the people of Kashmir including members of the Sikh minority for their outright support and then while quoting relevant verses from the Qur'an and instances from the life of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad urges the youth of Kashmir to join the ‘mujahideen’ ranks to fight against the Indian “oppression” and to be “saviour” of the honour and dignity of the its womenfolk.
Wani, a resident of southern Tral area, is one of the ‘most wanted’ militants and the J&K police has already announced a cash reward of Rs 1 million on his head. He was a 10th class student when he left home to join the Hizb ranks in 2010 and his family members and friends claim that “harassment” at the hands of the members of J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) impelled him to turn to the gun to take revenge.
"If you can't join us, then you should support us in other ways," he asks the Kashmiri youth. He accuses the police of trying to demoralise militants by repeatedly misbehaving and torturing their families. “They too have families but we won’t harm them as we belong to same Allah and our Sharia (Islamic law) doesn’t allow us to do that. We are here to protect the honour and dignity of the women, including their families; daughters, mothers and sisters,” he says.
The tech-savvy militant ends his message by promising to ‘come back’ soon. The video has gone viral and worried security authorities are reportedly considering measures to impede its further reach.