Compensation by J&K government to Burhan Wani kin sets off furore

Srinarad: The Jammu and Kashmir government’s decision to give ex-gratia relief to the family of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani for slaying of one of his brothers during an Army operation about 20 months ago has triggered a new political controversy in the state and beyond.

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 in the mainstream politics and some right-wing Hindu groups including Shiv Sena which have threatened agitation if the family is given any relief.  

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 number nine 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 over-ground worker” for the Hizb.

The family had questioned the Army 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 post-graduate student of political sciences at the Indira Gandhi National Open University 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 relief 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 investigation into the merit of the case by the police. However, the public notice from the DC Pulwama which appeared in a local newspaper on Monday categorically states that names of the victims of violence including Khalid have only been cleared for the cash or job compensation and no formal orders as such have been issued. Before formal orders are issued, the notice invites objections which have to be submitted to the DC within a week’s time.

The relief is given under SRO-43 of 1994 (militancy related) which provides for immediate financial support to the family/Next Of Kin of the deceased individually, killed in militancy related incidents, in the form of government jobs or cash compensation in lieu thereof.