Srinagar: Senior hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Geelani,86, said on Tuesday addressing the crowd outside his home that the popular militant commander Burhan Muzaffer Wani spoke to him ahead of his killing .
Geelani said Wani rang him up and spoke briefly, but was very happy because “it was his long desire” to speak to the Hurriyat veteran.
“He said that ‘we on our side are trying our best to help this freedom struggle and I have full faith in you that you will also leave no stone unturned to attain the goal of freedom for the Kashmiri nation,’’ Geelani said.
Wani, was killed by security forces on July 8. His death triggered a wave of protests across Kashmir, in which as many as 49 people were killed and more than 2,000 wounded in a security crackdown against violent mobs.
Geelani said Wani was a “very intelligent and matured Mujahid commander”. He described Burhan as a “martyr” adding “It was because of sacrifice of a 22 year old youth that Kashmir is up against India again.”
“Sacred blood of Hizb Commander Shaheed Burhan Muzaffar Wani has added a new life to the freedom struggle of the subjugated Kashmiri people and it was his sincerity and piousness which forced the people of the state to come out on the roads against India. Both in his life as well as his martyrdom has shaken Indian power houses,” Geelani said.
Geelani urged the people to follow the protest program saying we are fighting a big power but our commitment and sacrifices will defeat it.
He asked the people to set up and strengthen the Bait-ul- Maals. “If we make system of Bait-ul-Maals a success, I swear that no Kashmiri will sleep empty stomach,” he said.
“It is a big and long struggle and it is responsibility of rich and affluent people to ensure distribution of essential items like ration evenly amongst those who are needy,” he added.