Inside Indian-occupied Kashmir’s deadliest year in a decade
A young man in his 20s broke the news to his friends while they were eating in a park in Srinagar. “Burhan is dead,” he whispered.
It was July 7, 2016. Over the preceding five years, 22-year-old Burhan Wani had become the face of militant opposition to the Indian occupation of the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Burhan was the commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, a pro-Pakistan Kashmiri separatist organization. He’d left home and taken up arms against Indian rule in 2010, at the age of 15.
“This must be fake news. He’s not dead,” his friends replied, shocked. But their denial receded quickly. “If Burhan is dead, how many more will be killed?”
In the next six months of protest, their question would be answered: around 100 people would die, and close to 15,000 would be injured.
THE DEATH OF A MILITANT
Burhan was shot by Indian security forces in the village of Bumdoora in a counterinsurgency military operation, along with two other militants. His rise to fame marked a new type of militant leader in Kashmir: the social media recruiter. He posted photos of himself surrounded by other militants, clad in camo and toting an assault rifle, his face boldly unmasked. His viral videos called for “freedom from Indian rule,” and openly condemned the police brutality and military occupation that mark life in Kashmir, encouraging other young people to take up arms against the Indian occupiers. Like much of the young generation of separatist militants, he came from a well-educated family – his father is a school principal.
This story is from the March/April 2019 edition of Briarpatch.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March/April 2019 edition of Briarpatch.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
PLATFORMS FOR PEOPLE, NOT PROFIT
Digital platforms boast that they’ve “democratized” cultural production. But what would truly democratic platforms look like in Canada?
ORGANIZING THROUGH LOSS IN THE HEART OF OIL COUNTRY
The story of climate justice organizing in Alberta, at the heart of the tarsands, is the story of a group of young activists learning what it means to lose, and keep on fighting
GROWING THE LABOUR MOVEMENT
How unions are using community gardens to engage members, nourish communities, and help strikers weather the picket line
A NEW ERA FOR OLD CROW
In the Yukon’s northernmost community, the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation is reckoning with how to preserve their land and culture, amid a warming climate and an influx of tourists
“At Least Hookers Get Wages”
The risky business of sex work in the gig economy
The Literal – And Literary – Futures We Build
Briarpatch editor Saima Desai talks to two judges of our Writing in the Margins contest about Idle No More and MMIWG, ethical kinship, writing queer sex, and their forthcoming work.
The Cost Of A T-Shirt
In Honduras, women maquila workers are fighting back against the multinational garment companies that they say are endangering their health and safety.
Milking Prison Labour
Canada’s prison farms are being reopened. But when prisoners will be paid pennies a day, and the fruits of their labour will likely be exported for profit, there’s little to celebrate.
Bringing Back The Beat
In mainstream media, labour journalism has been replaced by financial reporting and business sections. But journalism students are raising the labour beat from the grave.
There's No Journalism On A Dead Planet
Corporate media owners are killing local newspapers – which is making it impossible for everyday people to understand the on-the-ground impacts of the climate crisis
