Wani, The Champ Of Propaganda By Social Media

Social media made him a big star in Kashmir and in his death, Burhan Muzaffar Wani nearly broke it. By the night of July 8, Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter were buzzing with the news of the 22-year-old. Most Kashmiri youth openly mourned "…the loss of a martyr" with an air of finality and bitterness that soon converted into an open declaration of anti-Indian sentiments. Human rights defender of Kashmiri origin, Khurram Parvez tweeted, "Maqbool, Ishfaq, Burhan died for us to live..."

The government has portrayed Wani as a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, which has been fighting for Kashmiri independence. Wani, it is said, joined the insurgent group when he was 16 in 2010.

Home ministry officials have reportedly said that he rapidly rose within the Hizbul and used social media to post photo and video updates of the outfit's activities. Though attempts had been made, it is perceived that officials had mostly been unsuccessful to trace the route of the messages.

In the videos, Wani would be joking and laughing with his comrades. It looked like a group of friends strolling in a jungle, except that they were armed and in hiding. It would take only a few minutes for the videos to 'go viral'.

Unlike other militants, Wani did not cover his face. The news of his killing spread through all social media that night and has stayed in public discourse since then.

Before Wani emerged as a discourse setter via social media or in the pained anguish after his death, Kashmir’s social media was dominated by cries for repealing of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act under which human rights violations continued with impunity.

Kashmiris would post about assaults, killings or other injustices. A common string of 'patriotic' social media warriors would try to subdue it by defending the security forces' excesses.

Following Wani's killing, social media dispatches helped to track the events that unfolded in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir. Most of Kashmir was blotted out because mobile internet services and mobile services were cut, citing security reasons. Images of the injured in hospitals, women protesting on the roads, videos of security personnel vandalising ambulances and storming hospitals appeared on social media, pushing the media to report the violations.

Wani's funeral was announced through WhatsApp calling all Kashmiris to "walk to the martyr's last rites". Thousands of Kashmiris walked miles to offer their prayers and condolences in violation of curfew on July 9 at Wani’s hometown in Tral. On WhatsApp groups, many claimed the crowd had been much larger than at the recent funeral of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the PDP leader who died in harness as CM.

The use of social media in worldwide protests and unrest has become common especially to escape the mainstream media’s filters. In 2014, the government in Kashmir had withdrawn text messaging services during unrest. In Gujarat last year, the government had banned mobile internet services following clashes between police and protesters during the Patidar agitation.

Telecommunications is strictly controlled in Kashmir. In 2009, then home minister P Chidambaram had banned the use of prepaid SIM cards reportedly as a 'security measure'. The ban was lifted much later subject to extra-verification of SIM owners and a biennial renewal of the 'permission' to operate prepaid SIMs.

Prepaid mobiles from the rest of the country do not work in Kashmir. For long, only the state-owned BSNL was allowed to fully operate in Kashmir.