Family of Wani gets ex gratia from J&K govt, triggers political controversy
SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government’s decision to give ex gratia to the family of Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani for the death of one of his brothers during an Army operation about 20 months ago, has triggered a new political controversy.
Though the decision of clearing of the relief case is subject to filing of objections within a week’s time and no formal orders as such have been issued, the PDP-BJP government has come under attack from its opponents and some right-wing Hindu groups including the Shiv Sena which have threatened an agitation if the family is given any relief.
Burhan Wani’s elder brother Khalid was killed in encounter: Army
The District Magistrate of southern Pulwama district earlier this week released a list of 106 victims of violence whose cases for relief have been cleared or rejected by the government.
Burhan’s elder brother Khalid Muzaffar Wani figures at No. 9 in the list of civilians and police personnel who were killed or injured or whose properties were damaged in militancy-related incidents over a period of time.
Khalid was killed by the Army in the woods of Tral in Pulwama district on April 14, 2015, and later claimed that he was shot down in an “encounter” while trying to meet his younger brother Burhan. The Army had also said that Khalid had been “operating as an overground worker” for the Hizb.
The family had questioned the Army’s claim and said that 25-year-old Khalid’s corpse bore no bullet but torture marks including his teeth having been broken. Khalid was a PG student of political sciences at the IGNOU and had on the fateful day told his mother that he was along with his friends going out on picnic.
Twenty months later, the state government has circuitously nullified the Army’s claim by clearing the name of Khalid for the ex-gratia of Rs 400,000 or a job to his family. Official sources said that his name for financial support to the family or compassionate employment to one of its members as permissible under relevant law was cleared after a thorough probe into the merit of the case by the police.
