Compensation for Burhan Wani's brother has demoralising effect on Army

Khalid Wani, 25, was killed on April 13, 2015, in a forest area of the Tral region in Pulwama.

Srinagar, Dec 14: A huge controversy has erupted after the name of Burhan Wani's brother figured on a compensation list of the Jammu and Kashmir government. The name of Khalid Wani who was killed by the Indian army figures 9 on the list. If the compensation is handed out then his family would get a sum of Rs 4 lakh.

On April 13, 2015, Khalid Wani was killed in an encounter with the Indian army at the Tral region in Pulwama. The army said that he was in close touch with his brother, Burhan Wani, a commander in the Hizbul Mujahideen.

The family however rubbished this and claimed that it was a case of custodial killing. The decision to compensate Khalid who has been termed as a blunder by both army officials and the Intelligence Bureau. It demoralises the forces said an officer.

Demoralising effect:
The army has a difficult time in the past six months. The unrest in Jammu and Kashmir was bad and showed no signs of ending. The target of the youth hired by the separatists was always the security agencies. To make matters worse, Pakistan took advantage of the unrest and sent in nearly 300 terrorists.

The army continued to battle terrorists and also bore the brunt of the stone pelters. An army official who did not wish to be named said that in the Valley it is extremely difficult to operate. There are many on the streets who are trying to target us. In the case of Khalid Wani, there was concrte information that he was passing on information to his brother. An encounter broke out and he died in a fire fight the officer also said.

The officer goes on to add that handing out compensation to such persons has a demoralising effect on the forces. On one hand we battle terrorists and on the other the administration hands out compensation. Khalid Wani did not deserve compensation, the officer also notes.

The Revenue Department in Jammu and Kashmir prepares the list of persons who have died either in cross-fire or militancy related activity. The Deputy Commissioner of Pulwama, Muneer-ul-Islam says that the compensation has not been distributed as yet. We are still waiting for the objections he says. The Chief Minister's media advisor Suhail Bukhari says that it is an administrative process and the compensation has not been handed out as yet he said while clarifying that this was not a political issue.

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