By Kashif Ahmed

Kashmiri freedom fighter, Burhan Wani Shaheed (Martyr), joined the struggle against the Israeli backed, Indian occupation in 2010.

Burhan was martyred (KIA) in a shootout with Indian occupation forces on July 8th 2016, he was 21.

Like the heroes of the Algerian War of Independence: Mustafa Ben-Boulaïd, Col. Lotfi, Ahmed Zabana, Ali La Pointe and many others; Burhan Wani and his cadre of partisans, were also outgunned & outnumbered from the onset. But Burhan fought the invaders with skill, determination and true grit: Burhan Wani was as feared by the Indian occupation, as Palestinian resistance fighter, Emad Aqel Shaheed, was by the ‘Israelis’ in the early 1990s.

The RSS-Hindutva regime in Delhi, were so perturbed by Burhan’s inspirational leadership; that they put a Rs 1 million bounty on his head. Occupation forces tortured Burhan’s brother, Khalid Wani Shaheed, to death in 2015 and used similar terror tactics against the population. But no one would turn traitor; despite Indian bribes, intimidation & threats.

By 2013, Burhan Wani had become a Robin Hood figure of sorts, a Kashmiri William Wallace, around whom a new generation of Kashmiri resistance fighters could rally:

“I am thankful to entire Kashmiri nation, particularly our youth who risk their lives to safeguard The Mujahadeen.

India had recently said we (Kashmiris) will attack the Amarnath yatra (Hindu pilgrims). This statement is absolutely untrue. Let me assure you that we have no plans to attack Amarnath yatra. They (Hindu pilgrims) are coming here to fulfil their religious duties and we have nothing to do with it.

But we will retaliate against the Sainik colonies (Hindutva squatter-settlement sites) if those are established here. This is our land and we are its owners. Pandits can come here and live in their respective places. They have their own lands, houses and other properties, We will not allow separate colonies on the Israeli pattern for Hindu extremists.

Had we been terrorists, we could have shut you up a long time ago. When you go through the history and find out, its easy to tell who is the terrorist. There will be action against every occupier in uniform who attempts to impose the laws of India on Kashmir. I also want to remind police that our enemy is India. India wants us to fight with each other. Otherwise we are brothers. I suggest you to train your guns against India and join us in the freedom struggle”.

Burhan Wani Shaheed, June 7th, 2016