KASHMIRIS observe 9th martyrdom of their iconic and beloved social media activist, Shaheed Burhan Muzaffar Wani on July 8, 2025.
Wani was martyred by Indian occupation forces on this day in 2016 for the mass mobilization of the Kashmiri youth, after the introduction of social media in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Wani made best use of social media in order to promote the cause of Kashmir among the Kashmiri youth. It was because of his social media campaigning that Kashmiri youth from IIOJK reinvigorated the political struggle for their right of self-determination. Since Indian occupation forces had banned the larger scale gathering of Kashmiris ever since the 1990s, therefore, through social media, Wani was able to bring together Kashmiris from all parts of the IIOJ&K for the common cause and a common ideology. The peaceful discourse for the right of self-determination, as pioneered by Shaheed Burhan Wani through his social media activism defeated the will of Indian Army and its paramilitary force.
Wani was the face of Kashmiri resistance to the Indian Army’s brutal tactics in IIOJK. He alone re-energized the Kashmiri freedom struggle. Burhan had garnered huge following due to his social media outreach and symbolically he had gained a pedestal that was worrisome for Indian occupying forces. Wani remained a threat for Indian armed forces for almost 6 years. Burhan used the modern communication facilities like internet to promote Kashmiri cause on social media that sent shock waves across top ranks of the Indian government/military leadership and gave sleepless nights to the New Delhi’s security establishment for more than six years.
Burhan was an intelligent/smart Kashmiri freedom fighter with political guts and was completely following the line of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to promote Kashmiris struggle. Owing to fear of arrest or fake encounter by the brutal Indian military, Wani and his colleagues used to sleep in the day and moved from one area to another at night to change their location. He broke more than 20 Indian army crackdowns with the help of local people who came to rescue him while pelting security forces with stones during siege and search operations that showed the popularity and love of the people for Burhan in IIOJK.
Tens of thousands of people in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have been deprived of their family members for spearheading the struggle for the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. The freedom struggle of Kashmiris is adorned with the blood of martyrs and therefore no power on earth could defeat it through oppressive measures. Kashmiri leaders and freedom fighters strived and sacrificed their lives for the sacred cause and got their names written with honor and dignity in the annals of Kashmir history.
Following the martyrdom of Wani, protests and violence erupted in IIOJK which lasted for almost eight months. It demonstrated people’s affection for Wani and his cause. All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) had announced a week-long commemoration programme with shut downs and protests. His heroic legacy earned him significant traction in local and international media that include; New York Times, BBC, Al Jazeera and many other global media networks.
It was incorrectly projected by the Indian Army and some organizations that Burhan Wani was a militant commander. Indeed, he was not a militant; since he never took the arm to fight the occupation forces of India. His only weapon was social media, which he activated successfully and exploited to the extent that Indian high-ups felt dithering and helpless with sleepless nights, as how to handle it. They killed brother, close relatives and even friends in a bid to arrest this iconic social media activist. The Indian Army and even its spying network could not trace this brave Kashmiri boy, thus started a search operation in his native town, Dadsara village in Tral area of Pulwama District.
In order to escape from the likely arrest by the Indian Army and secure the local population from humiliating search and cordon operation, Mr Wani left his village and populated areas in forest. For his own protection, he took along the weapon, but still made use of social media as a tool for mass mobilization of Kashmiri youth. Through its superior technology, the Indian Army traced him upon his moving away from population centres and martyred him after the worst brutalities. It was a great success for the occupation forces and the Government of India, since Wani introduced something new in this struggle of Kashmiris. To celebrate their victory and defame this peaceful social media icon, Indian Army projected him as a hard core militant.
After Burhan Wani was martyred, the Indian Army humiliated his body through firing hundreds of bullets despite his confirmed death and cut his body into pieces. While during his killing and humiliation of his body, Indian Army and the Modi Government did not visualize the next step. They could not perceive the stimulus of the Kashmiri struggle after this brave son of Kashmir. Indeed, one Burhan Wani died, but left behind millions of Wanis to fight for their freedom from tyrant Indian rule. Through his social media campaigning, Burhan Wani associated millions of youth with the peaceful Kashmiri struggle. These followers of Wani are not ready to compromise over their right to self-determination and freedom from India. Today, Kashmiri youth of IIOJK are acting as the greatest resistant force against occupation of brutal Indian Army.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
(drmkedu@gmail.com)
