KARACHI: Muzaffar Wani, father of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, whose killing by Indian forces triggered the continuing cycle of protests and violence in held Kashmir, tells the Times of India that his son’s dream was to join the Indian Army when he was 10 and also play cricket like Parvez Rasool — one day hopefully for India.

Mr Muzaffar, a government school principal, also rules out Pakistan’s role in Uri, Pathankot and Pampore attacks and insists that as a teacher he tells his students the importance of taking up “good careers” like Kashmir Administrative Service and the IAS.

In reply to a question about the protests in the held Valley, he said there’s no call by the Hurriyat Conference for any shutdown. “We didn’t realise that these shutdowns would turn violent. We’ve lost so much in the last two months. We want some resolution. It depends on the people, how they want to look at the assurances from India or the J&K government. When my own two sons got killed, others too lost their family members.”

Asked if Kashmiri youth should pick up guns and fight against security forces, Mr Muzaffar said: “Of course not. The better way is dialogue between India and Pakistan. So that there’s peace in Pakistan and also in India. All Indians are our brothers and all Pakistanis are our brothers. We Kashmiris love every Pakistani and we love every Indian.”

About the allegations of Pakistan’s involvement is the Uri attack in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed, he asked: “How can it be Pakistan? Whoever entered Kashmir after becoming a militant is a Kashmiri. Even a Muslim from Hindustan can come. It could even be an attack by Kashmiri militants.”

He said it was necessary to solve the Kashmir problem or else such attacks might happen again. “But we don’t know where these militants are coming from or infiltrating as the borders are sealed by the Indian forces. What is the Indian Army doing?”

Mr Muzaffar recalled that Burhan had left home on Oct 5, 2010. He told his mother he was going to meet some friends but didn’t return that evening. “Then we came to know that he had joined the militants. For two months before this encounter, I tried my best to convince him. His year of birth was 1994. I told him that he was born during the peak of instability and that it was obvious that he felt the pain.

“When he was 10, he told an Indian Army officer that he wanted to join the army. He said this when a raid was being conducted to search militants in our village. Burhan had a strong liking for camouflage outfits. One of his videos shows he loved cricket. He would have loved to play for India, not Pakistan.”

Mr Muzaffar said he had met his son two or three times, for just around two or three minutes, over the past five years. “The last time was two-and-half years ago. He was always on his own. I am in a government job for my family. He was working for entire J&K.”

He said that his another son, Khalid, was killed in April 2015 by security forces when he’d gone for a picnic.

When asked that PM Nawaz Sharif had invoked Burhan at his UN speech, Mr Muzaffar said: “When Bhagat Singh was fighting against the British, they called him a terrorist, but Indians maintained he was a freedom fighter. When the problem of Kashmir will be solved, India will realise Wani was a freedom fighter. I liked everything that Nawaz Sharif said.”

By arrangement with the Times of India

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2016