Ashiq Hussain, an associate of Mannan Wani, was also killed in the encounter that took place in north Kashmir’s Handwara area.
New Delhi: Two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, including Aligarh Muslim University PhD scholar Mannan Wani, were killed Thursday in an encounter with security forces at Satgund in Kashmir’s Handwara.
“It is confirmed that Mannan has been killed. The police is now doing the formalities by calling his family to identify him,” said a senior police official who didn’t wish to be named.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police identified Ashiq Hussain as the other slain terrorist in a tweet.
Handwara update;
Two killed in Handwara encounter identified as Manan Wani and Ashiq Hussain of HM outfit. @JmuKmrPolice
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) October 11, 2018
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, “Today a PhD scholar chose death over life & was killed in an encounter. His death is entirely our loss as we are losing young educated boys everyday.”
Today a PhD scholar chose death over life & was killed in an encounter. His death is entirely our loss as we are losing young educated boys everyday. 1/2
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 11, 2018
She added, “It is high time that all the political parties in the country realise the gravity of this situation and try to facilitate a solution through dialogue with all the stake holders including Pakistan to end this bloodshed.”
It is high time that all the political parties in the country realise the gravity of this situation and try to facilitate a solution through dialogue with all the stake holders including Pakistan to end this bloodshed. 2/2
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 11, 2018
Mannan’s encounter comes more than two years after the killing of another Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani, on 8 July 2016, which resulted in a new wave of militancy in the Kashmir Valley.
The road to militancy
Mannan, who hailed from Tikipora village of Lolab valley in north Kashmir, announced his entry to the terror outfit on 7 January with a photo in which he is posing with gun.
After completing B.Sc from Amar Singh College in Srinagar, Mannan pursued M.Sc and MPhil in geology at AMU. He was just three months away from getting his PhD degree, said his family.
“He (Wani) was a genius. He was not any ordinary boy. How could he do this to me?” his father had said earlier.
“He was a bright student. We sent a team to the university and found out that he never talked about any radical issue. He was of a liberal kind,” Farooq Qaisar, former additional superintendent of police, had told ThePrint.
North Kashmir’s Burhan?
After Mannan chose the path of militancy, there were fears about educated youth from north Kashmir falling prey to militancy.
“There has been a trend of militants simply born out of funerals of those militants who get killed by the security forces. Recently, two local militants were killed in north Kashmir but they were low-profile,” a police official told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
“Mannan is a celebrated one, thus one can never rule out the chances of his killing affecting young men to pick up guns,” the official added.
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He, however, said the kind of atmosphere in north Kashmir is better than the south as far the youth joining militancy is concerned.
“After Mannan joined the militancy, there were few young boys from north Kashmir who went on the same path. While alive, Mannan could have been instrumental in getting youngsters to join him in this region,” said the official.
“North is unlikely to see a mass local militancy as compared with south Kashmir,” added the official.