Muzaffar Wani said he lost his two sons and cannot afford more sacrifices. "I tried my best to stop my son. But he didn't stop. (After all,) He is not a calf to tie down at home." Muzaffar Wani on Burhan.
In an exclusive interview with Asianet News, Muzaffar Ahmad Wani, father of the Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Burhan Wani who got killed in an encounter with the security forces in July this year, said that he had tried his best to stop his son from joining the militants. He also denied having said that he was ready to sacrifice his daughter for the cause of Azadi in Kashmir.
"I tried my best to stop him," Wani recollected. "But he didn't stop... He went out of the home and joined the militants. What can I do..? (After all,) He is not a calf to tie down at home," he said about Burhan Wani's radicalization while talking to Asianet News team that visited his house at Shareefabad in Tral. It is the first time an Indian Television Channel is visiting the Wanis at their residence in the trouble-torn valley.
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Denying reports that he had participated in protest movements after the death of his son and offered his other two children to militancy, Wani said he had already made two sacrifices and could not afford more.
“It is wrong. I have never gone out of my house and never said so. I have never participated in protests in any part of Kashmir," Wani said. "I had already lost my elder son to militancy, and I desperately wanted to stop my second son from becoming one, but I couldn't do anything I tried my best,” Wani said.
The three-storied house of Wani in the relatively unknown Shareefabad region in South Kashmir suddenly became the focal point of Kashmir unrest following the death of Burhan Wani, the Hizbul Mujahideen commander who joined the militants in 2010. Burhan was killed on 8 July 2016 during a military operation, turning Kashmir into a complete war zone.
Asianet News managed to reach the house of Wani with the help of some local media persons. Even though he refused to speak on camera, Muzaffar Wani opened up after a while and talked about his family and his slain son.
Speaking about his recent meeting with the Art of Living guru Sri Sri Ravishankar at Bengaluru, Wani said that he had a friendly meeting with the guru when he went there as part of medical treatment. "Yes, we talked about Kashmir and the ongoing issues here. I requested Sri Sri Ravishankar to take initiatives to solve the problems," Wani said while rubbishing the controversies surrounding the meeting.
