Jahangeer Ganie
June 2015 was unusual in Kashmir. A photograph of otherwise Militants operating underground in Kashmir appeared on Social media, causing deep concern among the Security officials in the valley and elsewhere. The photograph was that of Burhan Wani surrounded by his 10 associates clicked somewhere in the orchards of Shopian’s Zainapora belt, as per Security officials. The photograph revealed 11 militants posing boldly without masks in front of the camera in contrast to earlier times when they remained hidden and did not reveal much. The photo had become hugely popular among youth.
The consecutive years in Kashmir saw a massive upsurge in the number of youths taking up Arms. The numbers reached 88 in 2016, in 2017, the number rose further to 126 and in 2018, 218 Local youth joined Militancy, the highest number in a decade, while in 2019 the number dropped to 139 and in 2020 the number rose again to 167 local youth joining various Militant outfits in Kashmir.
In 2018, at least 21018, 218 Local youth including three highly educated youths one each from north Kashmir’s Kupwara district and summer capital Srinagar joined militancy, Mannan Bashir Wani, a former research scholar at the AMU, Waseem Ahmed Rather, another Ph.D. scholar from Kulgam, Zubair Ahmed Wani and Sabzar Ahmed Sofi, M.Phil Scholars from South Kashmir. While 139 youths joined militancy in 2019.
The Figures available to The Kashmiriyat also reveal that 1962 Militancy related incidents have occurred since 2014 at an average of more than 327 attacks per year. 614- The highest number of attacks took place in 2018, while the number dropped down to the lowest in 2020 at 96.
According to the report of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the year 2019, between January 01 and July 15, 75 security personnel and 23 civilians were killed in several incidents, while in 2020, 35 soldiers and 22 civilians were killed.
Below is a profile of the 11 young men who appeared in the 2011 photograph.
Burhan Muzaffar Wani was the commander of a Kashmiri militant group Hizbul Mujahideen. He became popular and appealing among some Kashmiris due to his activity on social media and actions of militancy against India in Kashmir. A few suspects who were believed to be travelling towards Anantnag to deliver the weapons were arrested near Awantipora. The Police said that the arrested individuals were from Kupwara and had travelled all the way to Awantipora to meet OGWs operating in the Anantnag district.
The calls of these individuals from north Kashmir were intercepted and analyzed by police, this led to further arrests on 2nd July 2016. These Individuals from the north and south Kashmir were arrested. During the course of the investigation, it was found that they revealed had to deliver weapons to Burhan and two others accompanying him.
As per Security officials, Burhan Wani was in South Kashmir’s Kokernag area to receive a fresh consignment of weapons from a Militant commander, active in the Kokernag area. It was one day after the Kashmir valley celebrated Eid, when the 22-year-old HM commander, and two other militants, were trapped in the Bamdoora area of Kokernag.
He was killed in an encounter at Bamdoora Kokernag with the Indian security forces on 8 July 2016 at the age of 22 which made him a hero of Kashmir. Burhan was born in the year 1994 at his maternal home Dadasara, Tral, Jammu and Kashmir, Killed in Anantnag district and laid to rest at Martyrs graveyard Tral.
It is said that, at his funeral, over forty thousand people participated.
Widespread protests erupted in the Kashmir valley after Wani’s death, causing the 2016 civilian uprising in the valley for nearly half a year, in which more than 96 people died, while over 15,000 civilians and more than 4,000 security personnel were injured. The violence which erupted after his death was described as the worst unrest in the region since the 2010 Kashmir unrest, with Kashmir being placed under 53 consecutive days of curfew imposed by authorities that was lifted from all parts of the region on 31 August 2016.
2. Sabzar Ahmad Bhat
Sabzar Ahmad Bhat was a commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group. He joined the ranks the same day when Burhan’s Brother Khalid was killed by forces.
He became the successor of Burhan and was killed by forces on May 26, 2017, along with his associate Faizan at Saimoh.
Security forces pointed out that 26-year-old Ahmad, a resident of Ruthsana village in Tral, was the brain behind utilizing social media as a tool to attract young boys towards militancy. He was marked as an ‘A-category’ militant.
3. Naseer Pandith
In a dramatic turnaround of events, Naseer Ahmed Pandit son of Ghulam Rasool Pandith, a resident of Karimabad village of Pulwama decamped with two AK47 rifles on March 27, 2015, from the residence of PDP Minister Altaf Bukhari’s residence.
After decamping with the rifles, he reached his village were two boys, 24-year-old Afaq Ullah Bhat and 20-year-old Tariq Ahmad Pandit, were waiting for him. All three disappeared and joined the militant ranks.
Naseer became popular in the group for training other associates as he was a trained policeman.
On 7 April, 2016, Naseer Ahmad Pandit and Inamul Haq alias Waseem Malla were killed in an encounter with a joint team of local police, CRPF and Rashtriya rifles at Vehil village near Shopian.
4. Waseem Malla
In 2009, Inamul Haq @Waseem was part of the crowds protesting against the rape and murder of Asiya and Nelofar. He would go to the bridge across Rambiar Nalla to pelt stones, drawing the attention of the police.
In 2010, he left to join militant ranks for the first time. Three days later, he was caught by the police and jailed for four months, as per his family members. But in 2012, he left again to join the Hizbul Mujahideen, after snatching the rifle of a local policeman. This time, there was no returning.
In 2015, Waseem became one of the 10 militants surrounding Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in the picture that went viral across the Valley. He is standing next to Wani, on the right, long-haired and bearded, with a quiet smile on his face.
On April 7, 2016, he was killed in an encounter in Vehil, in Shopian, along with Naseer Pandit. After Waseem’s death, security forces described him as one of Wani’s close aides, involved in several attacks on policemen.
5. Aadil Khanday
Aadil Khanday of Barbug Imamsahib joined militant ranks in 2012 and was killed in Manzimpora Shopian along with his two associates in 2015.
One among his associates killed was Irshad from Maldera Shopian who was a post-graduate in Islamic studies.
Aadil was a A category militant and was considered to be the main militant recruiter in district Shopian.
6. Aafaq Bhat
Aafaq Bhat joined militants ranks at the beginning of the year 2015 and was killed just after seven months.
Aafaq was shot dead in an encounter on Oct 26, 2015. His seven-month stint with Hizb came to an end when he along with other Hizb militant Abdul Mannan Dar of Shopian was caught in an ambush with the joint party of SOG and army. He was shot by a bullet in his right eye during a fierce gunfight.
Aafaq Ullah, was the one who helped Naseer Pandith, a police constable posted at the house of Minister for R&B Altaf Bukhari, to flee with two Rifles and joined ranks.
Holding a Master’s degree in Computer Science, Aafaq belonged to the family of a police head constable, Abdul Rashid Bhat.
Hailing from a volatile Karimabad village of district Pulwama in south Kashmir, Aafaq is being recalled as a very modest person who would spend most of his time in religious activities. “He would visit youth at their homes and ask them to offer prayers in a mosque.
7. Tariq Pandit
A top Hizbul Mujahideen militant Tariq Pandit, a close aide of the poster boy Burhan Wani, was arrested after he was apprehended, surrendered by police in Pulwama.
Considered as a category “A” militant, Pandit figured prominently with Burhan in various pictures and videos that were posted. Pandit carried a cash reward of Rs three lakh for information leading to his arrest.
There were conflicting reports as senior police officials of Pulwama district in South Kashmir said that Pandit had surrendered but the army maintained that he had been apprehended.
Since then Tariq is in police custody.
Tariq pandit is the only surviving militant in the widely circulated photograph of a group of 11 local militants led by Burhan Wani. Over the years,all the militants posing in the photograph were killed in encounters with the security forces. Only Tariq Pandit is alive.
Tariq pandit has been in prison since 2016.
8. Wasim shah
Wasim Shah was born in a middle-class family of Gul Mohammed Shah, who ran a fruit business. Wasim Shah, according to police was an active supporter of the Lashkar-e-Toiba militant group since his school days.
A college dropout, Shah, was a resident of Heff-Shrimal in Shopian. He is reported to join the militancy in 2014 and was considered as the master planner of 2016 unrest in various parts of South Kashmir, as per the report.
Wasim Shah was carrying a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. As per the J&K police, he was recruiting fresh cadres for the militant outfit.
Shah who was known with the name of Wasim Akram for his heroics in cricket become the top commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba after he was arrested by forces over charges of stone-pelting and being in contact with militants, forced him to join ranks. He was a militant of the A++ category and was active for about 4 years.
Wasim Shah (aged 23), also known as ‘Abu Osama Bhai’ was killed at the Litter area in Pulwama along with scholar Hafiz Nisar of Litter on 14 October 2017.
9. Saddam Padder
Saddam Padder, a top Hizbul Mujahideen militant, was killed on May 6 2018 along with four other militants, in the Badigam Nagbal area of Shopian district.
Described as a category A++ militant by security agencies, Padder was one of the last few surviving militants featuring in the viral group photo with the former slain commander of the outfit Burhan Muzaffar in the middle.
Padder joined militant ranks in late 2013 and soon became one of the most wanted militants in the Kashmir valley.
His name also featured in 2017’s most wanted list released by the Army. Eldest among the four children of a well-to-do and influential orchardist in the Heff area of Shopian district, Saddam had dropped out of school a few years before he joined the militant ranks.
His killing was termed as a “great success” and he was considered a “master recruiter”.
10. Lateef Dar (named Ishfaq Hameed in group photo).
Lateef Ahmad Dar alias Tiger son of Ghulam Hassan Dar resident of Dogripora village of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district is the one who eluded forces for the longest time among the Burhan group whose picture first went viral on social media.
He was an A++ militant carrying a bounty of money on his head.
Sources said that after the death of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, Lateef became the close aide of new HM commander Riyaz Naikoo.
In Burhan’s group, Lateef has been wrongly given the name of his friend Ishfaq who joined ranks with Tiger however was killed with his two associates at Pangzam village of Pulwama district in the year 2015.
Lateef Tiger a 12th class dropout and a carpenter by profession joined militant ranks along with his friend Ishfaq in the year 2014. A local sarpanch was killed and police arrested the duo as according to police both were accompanying the militants who killed Sarpanch.
Both were booked under PSA and after spending few months in Kathua, they were released a day before eid and were asked to report concerning police station after a week however after spending 3 to 4 days at home, they left home and after few days people came to know that they have joined militant ranks.
Ishfaq got killed and Lateef whose many pictures with Burhan Wani, Zakir Moosa and Reyaz Naikoo have gone viral, Named Ishfaq Hameed in photograph Lateef Dar alias tiger was one of the most wanted militants of Kashmir and was carrying the bounty of 10 lacs on his head.
Lateef Ahmad Dar alias Tiger, the last active member of the 11 member Burhan Wani militant group was killed along with his two associates in an encounter with security forces in Shopian in May 2019.
The other two slain militants were Tariq Ahmed Sheikh alias Mufti Waqas of Moolu Chitragam Shopian and Shariq Ahmad Nengroo of Chotigam Shopian.
11. Anees
Anees is the only one in the group who has kept his face hidden and is said to be a militant from the Takibal area of Bijbehara in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district. However, nobody is sure about it.
The whereabouts of Anees are not known but police sources say he has also been killed.
Additional Reporting by Ifra Parvaiz-
The Story is an updated version of a similar story published on The Kashmiriyat in 2018.