Murder of Burhan Bashir Bhat
Burhan Bashir Bhat was a three-year-old boy who was killed by unidentified gunmen on 19 September 2015 when he and his father were walking home in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore in India.[1]
Burhan's father, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, who was identified as having been part of the militant organization Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen 15 years earlier, was also killed. Burhan was shot three times, and died in the hospital the following day.[2] After his death, Burhan Bashir Bhat became a symbol for regional conflict and lack of governmental accountability.[3]
He was compared in the media to Aylan Kurdi — the three-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish ethnic origin whose images brought about an onslaught of global outrage after he drowned in the Mediterranean Sea during part of a great Syrian refugee crisis.[4] Hurriyat separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani called for protests on 20 September 2015 against the killings in Kashmir Valley.[5] Everyday life was affected in Kashmir Valley following a strike called for by the Hurriyat Conference organization to protest the killing.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Sheikh Zaffar Iqbal (19 September 2015). "3-Year-Old Shot Dead Along With Father, a Former Terrorist, in Kashmir". NDTV.com.
- ^ Alex Crown. "Police say gunmen kill father and toddler in Indian-controlled Kashmir". Weird News, Entertainment & World News. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- ^ "Who Killed Burhan Bashir?". www.kashmirobserve.net.
- ^ Yasir, Zargar. "Burhan Bashir Bhat: The Aylan Kurdi of Kashmir". The Nation. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- ^ "J&K: Geelani calls for bandh over horrific killing of 3-year-old child by terrorists in Sopore". IBNLive.
- ^ PTI (20 September 2015). "Strike by Hurriyat conference affects normal life in Kashmir". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 March 2018.