From Hafiz Saeed to Geelani, everyone wants a piece of Burhan Wani

Bengaluru, July 27: After Hafiz Saeed, it is Syed Ali Shah Geelani who is desperate to stay relevant in Jammu and Kashmir. In today's circumstance the best way to stay in news is to be associated with Burhan Wani, the Hizbul Mujahideen who has over the past three weeks become an unwanted martyr.

A week after Hafiz Saeed claimed that Burhan Wani had called him before his death, Geelani parroted the same thing. "A few days before his death he had called me and reposed full faith in my leadership," Geelani said in Jammu and Kashmir.

To analyse this statement, OneIndia asked a senior Home Ministry official for his comment. "His waning leadership is what has led him to make this statement," the officer added.

Everyone wants a piece of Burhan Wani

Ask any local from Jammu and Kashmir or the officials posted there and they would say that the separatists collectively command the support of just 10 per cent of the population. "This is not good enough to win even a local body election. All they can do is collect a bunch of youth, pay them Rs 300 and get them to pelt stones," officers say.

Now with Wani being turned into a martyr, it is expected that each one wants a piece of him. Saeed, whose clout in the Valley is diminishing recently said that Wani had called him before his death. Geelani too, says the same thing.

The fact is that Wani was tracked extensively for nearly a month prior to his death and officers part of the operation say that there were no calls to Saeed or Geelani.

Geelani in fact has become a desperate man in the Valley today.

What Geelani is not telling anyone is that none of the separatists were happy with the meteoric rise of Wani, who became the face of the Hizbul Mujahideen on the internet.

Wani continued to urge the youth to join him and in the bargain took the sheen out of the separatists who were only playing to Pakistan's gallery.

It is in his death that the separatists feel that Kashmir has now got a local face. Hence it is quite obvious that Geelani would go that extra mile to churn a story.

Officers say that one needs to understand that Geelani was conveying that Wani had reposed faith in his leadership. "It is nothing but a desperate attempt to convey that through Wani, Geelani should be the face of the separatists," officials further note.

OneIndia News