18 Facts About Burhan Wani

Burhan Wani was the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, an Islamist militant organization and terrorist group of the Kashmir conflict.

Burhan Wani had become a popular figure amongst the local Kashmiri populace, having done so primarily through a strong social media presence, and was responsible for moulding the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir into a youth-oriented movement.

Burhan Wani was located in a remote village in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir and subsequently killed in a firefight with Indian forces on 8 July 2016.

The protests that followed Burhan Wani's killing resulted in the deaths of more than 96 people and injuries to over 15,000 civilians and 4,000 Indian security personnel.

Burhan Wani was born in 1994 in Dadasara, a village situated on the outskirts of the town of Tral in the Pulwama district of India Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, to Muzaffar Ahmad Burhan Wani, the principal of a public higher-secondary school, and Maimoona Muzaffar, a postgraduate of science who taught Qur'an classes in her village.

Burhan Wani's cousins were already involved with the militant movement since about 2008, and had joined Hizbul Mujahideen in 2010.

Burhan Wani used social-media, leveraging "a clever mix of ideology, religion and a deep sense of persecution" in chaste Kashmiri to romanticize the militant movement and wielded unforeseen influence in the local populace as a poster-boy, attracting numerous young adults into the cause.

Burhan Wani urged the state-police to stay out of their way, threatening to attack all security forces.

Burhan Wani was killed in an anti-insurgency operation on 8 July 2016 along with two other militants, later identified as Sartaj Ahmad Sheikh and Pervaiz Ahmad Lashkari.

Some army and police officials later said that the security forces had received intelligence regarding the presence of Sheikh but did not know Burhan Wani too was present along with him.

Jammu and Kashmir Police's Director General K Rajendra confirmed that Wani was killed in an exchange of fire between security personnel and the militants.

Burhan Wani is believed to have been succeeded by Sabzar Bhat, who was killed by Indian security forces shortly afterwards.

Burhan Wani's body wrapped in the flag of Pakistan was buried next to that of his brother Khalid in Tral.

The house where Burhan Wani was killed was set ablaze by a mob on suspicion that its residents had tipped-off the security forces about Burhan Wani.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi during meeting with UN officials raised the killing of Burhan Wani describing it as an "assassination of a Kashmiri youth leader".

Burhan Wani became the face of the Kashmir independence movement, and was compared with the revolutionary Bhagat Singh.

Burhan Wani had released a group photo on 1 July 2015 of himself seated with ten other militants, all armed and dressed in army fatigues, which went viral.

In July 2017, Pakistan Today praised Burhan Wani and compared his death to the death of Che Guevara, stating "History repeats itself".