The Centre on Saturday hailed the Armed Forces for taking out Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir and complemented them for the path-breaking achievement in the strategy against terrorism in the valley.
Speaking to ANI here, Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Dr. Jitendra Singh acknowledged the achievement of the Army and said that the government is proud of the Armed Forces, military and paramilitary troops deployed in the state.
"We have one of the best forces in the world and we ought to complement them for this breakthrough, which is going to be a major achievement for them and a path breaking achievement in the strategy against terror in general and more so, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in particular," he said.
However, he firmly condemned any politics being played over terrorism particularly in this matter and asserted that some of the elements which tend to do 'politicking out of terrorism' would have to learn sooner or later that the world is not going to favour that kind of politics.
Meanwhile, a day after alleging that Burhan Wani had no links to militancy, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah asserted that Wani had become the new 'icon' for the frustrated and disaffected community in the valley.
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"Aftr many yrs I hear slogans for "Azadi" resonate from the mosque in my uptown Srinagar locality. Kashmir's disaffected got a new icon y'day. Mark my words - Burhan's ability to recruit in to militancy from the grave will far outstrip anything he could have done on social media," Omar said in a series of tweets.
Meanwhile, All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani and Separatist leader Asiya Andrabi have called for a complete state wide shutdown on Saturday and appealed to the people to participate in Wani's funeral prayers in large numbers.
Geelani also appealed to the people to hold funeral prayers in-absentia for Wani at their respective places who could not reach Tral.
The 22-year-old Internet-savvy Kashmiri militant was reporteldy a resident of Dadsara village in south Kashmir's Tral area. He had left home in 2010-days before he was to take the Class 10 examination to join the region's front-line indigenous militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.
He soon rose to become its district commander and figured in the list of most wanted militants.
Wani featured in videos circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp aimed at recruiting young Kashmiri men for terror.
Last month, Wani released a video warning of attacks on separate colonies for Sainiks and Kashmiri Pandits if they are set up in the Valley.
The major part of the video message, however, was directed at the Jammu and Kashmir Police warning them of more attacks.
Reportedly, there was a Rs. 10 lakh reward for information leading to his arrest.
