Yami Gautam’s Article 370 movie: Who was Burhan Wani; the Kashmiri terrorist?

Directed by national award winning director, Aditya Suhas Jambhale Article 370 movie shows the unrest that followed in Kashmir after the killing of Burhan Wani. As per reports, Burhan Wani (19 September 1994 – 8 July 2016) was a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, an Islamist militant organization and insurgent group of the Kashmir conflict. His popularity was huge in Kashmir, but what made him so popular and why was he a huge crowd puller?

In 2016, the death of this of Burhan Wani caused a lot of unrest in the Kashmir Valley. According to BBC report, he was the one who was credited with reviving and legitimising the image of militancy in Muslim-majority Indian-administered Kashmir.

The region has seen an armed insurgency against Indian rule since 1989, although violence has lessened in recent years. The movie by Aditya Suhas Jambhale having Yami Gautam in the lead shows that after the end of Article 370 , now the people of Kashmir can dare to dream.

Popularity of Burhan Wani in Kashmir

According to reports published un Firstpost, after his death, Burhan Wani’s killing by security forces in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Kokernag area on 8 July triggered unrest in the Valley, which left as many as 86 people dead.

Burhan Wani’s popularity was such that when he died his funeral was attended by thousands of people.  Reports mention that despite restrictions, the funeral venue was so crowded there was no space to conduct funeral prayers. He was considered the new-age militant.

He belonged to an educated upper-class Kashmiri family. But was driven by militancy at the tender age of 15. He was one of those rare militants who never hid behind the mask and was very active on social media spreading hate messages against India. He was a terrorist, but many people of Kashmir believed him to be the face of the new- generation’s political aspirations of the Kashmiris who wanted to bring about a change.

(With added inputs from BBC and agencies)