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Body of Burhan
Burhan Muzaffar Wani, slain militant commander (KL Images: Bilal Bahadur)

Burhan, the “iconic” teenage rebel was lowered in his grave slightly short of 3 pm. But the town is still inundated by mourners of all ages. It will take a few hours for the crowds to decongest and get normal.

The town witnessed a massive rush of people since Friday evening after the news of Burhan’s killing in Kokernag encounter was confirmed. People came in hordes from all directions in all kinds of transport.

Burhan Funeral in Tral

We met an aged man from a city periphery who travelled on foot for most of the night to reach the town by around 11 am. The old man did not want to miss Burhan’s funeral prayers. He knew that it was going to be unprecedented.

“I do not know how many people were there to attend the funeral prayers because I have never seen so many people at a single place,” Kashmir Life Associate Editor Shams Irfan said. He was on an assignment in Tral on Friday when Burhan’s killing forced a literal one-way traffic to the town. “These must be in lakhs, not thousands.” Irfan is still in the town trying to see possibility of leaving for home.

Bilal Bahadur, Kashmir Life photo chief who took a dirt trek on his bike slightly ahead of twilight time of the day said it was the biggest ever funeral prayer he has recorded. “It was huge by all standards,” he said. Bilal reached office by around 2:30 pm after begging for access on the roads that mobs had blocked almost everywhere.

Women wailing over death of Burhan

There were so many people to offer the funeral prayers that they could not be accommodated by the huge Eidgah that Tral owns. “I counted 40 funeral prayers before I left,” Irfan said. “There were volunteers who would permit the people from one gate and take them out from the other one to manage some sort of discipline.” As the funeral prayers were being offered, two choppers were hovering over Tral skies.

There was an unending line of people who wanted to see him one last time. They were being regulated by the volunteers and the discipline was exemplary.

Slain Burhan in Tral

While most of the town was reverberating with the fierce sloganeering, in one corner of the town, the cops were managing a restive group of youth. The pellet firing had left many people injured. Irfan met a para-medic who said he attended too many of the pellet injured and was on way home to change his blood-soaked clothes.

Kashmir Life staffers were surprised to see Tral getting guest mourners from almost all the districts of Kashmir. There were people from Baramulla, Kupwara, Shopian and Kulgam. The volunteers had to convert the TATA Sumo stand into the temporary parking lot for vehicles and it was filled to the brim.

Slain Burhan

Bahadur clicked some pictures of men and women trekking the distances through the green paddy fields to reach the town.

Intermittently, the militant followers of Burhan would come to pay their respects to their commander. There were at least half a dozen occasions when the militants in full battle gear would appear, open their guns and fire few bullets, and leave in hurry. Most of them were hooded but people knew who was who.

Burhan’s body was handed over to the family at around 2:30 am in the night. He was taken to Eidgah early Saturday. After the long process of funeral prayers was over, Burhan’s body was moved to his home. However, his teacher father stayed at the cemetery where his grave was being prepared. After almost half an hour later, a huge gathering of sloganeering youth got him back to the graveyard for burial. He was laid to rest at around 2:45 pm.

People on way to Burhan Funeral
Destination Tral: People used all types of vehicles and thousands reached on foot to pay tributes to Burhan Muzaffar Wani.

Another incident took place in between. While he was being lowered in the grave that a huge gathering, possibly from Shopian, reached the spot. They fought with volunteers and tried to force them get him out one last time. Volunteers did not oblige them, however.

Burhan, locals said, had recently left the town. They said he spent Shab-e-Qadr locally and had celebrated Eid there. Burhan, the techie militant was a ‘boy next door’.

People in lines waiting for their turn to see face of Burhan
Emotional, people lined up to have the last glimpse of Burhan Muzaffar Wani.

Thousands of women were out in the Eidgah and on the Tral streets, mourning and sloganeering. They had cooked Tehri – the coloured fried rice, for tens of thousands of people during wee hours and there were hundreds of places where people would go have a quick few morsels and return.

Pampore on July 09, 2016
Kashmir Life’s Bilal Bahadur witnessed chaos on roads while reaching Tral. This picture shows the tenacious Pampore town.

Locals remember his school days and know exact situation in which he rebelled and jumped into militancy. He lived a very popular life, courtesy the social websites, and created a new record in his death. He might be the only rebel in last more than 20 years whose death triggered a Kashmir wide mourning, protests and a new spate of deaths.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Aasalam mu aaliakum
    He is still alive for us and we will get freedom at any cost in no time Inshallah. I pray to Allah to punish the culprit who spy the lion of Kashmir. Aameen I also salute the father of our great hero. Allah apko sabri jameel aata kara. Aameen

  2. With all respect of sentiments of Kashmiris, i wonder what ‘freedom’ are you demanding? Is it freedom from India and want to join Pakistan. Or freedom for independent province and free from both pakistan and India

  3. Kashmiris r a peace loving population.they basically are demanding right to self determination as was guarented to them by United Nations and agreed upon by both India and palistan

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