New Delhi: Following the hysteria over the killing of self-styled Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir, there was considerable confusion and buzz on social media about the slain militant. For instance, a fake Twitter handle going by the name of PCB official which has the same number of followers as that of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) termed Wani a martyr.
In its tweet, they shared, “Kashmiri mujahid burhan bhai martyred today* allah accept his shahadat.” The 22-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander was recently tagged as the poster boy of militancy on social media after he posted a picture of his group on his Facebook page in 2014 in battle fatigues and holding assault rifles.
As soon as the picture went viral, the girls were seen swooning over his handsome looks, pledging their lives to him and hundreds of youth being impacted by his social media videos appealing them to join the fight.
The Internet-savvy Kashmiri militant was reportedly a resident of Dadsara village in south Kashmir’s Tral area. He had left home in 2010 before he was to take the Class 10 examination to join the region’s front-line indigenous militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. He soon rose to become its district commander and figured in the list of most wanted militants. Wani featured in videos circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp aimed at recruiting young Kashmiri men for terror.
