Curfew on Saturday remained in force across Kashmir and normal life paralysed for the eighth day in the wake of clashes following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Mobile telephone services in the Valley also remained suspended to prevent any rumour-mongering.

Mobile Internet services continued to remain suspended for the seventh day on Saturday while trains are also off the tracks in the Valley as a precautionary measure.

Local newspapers in curfew-bound Kashmir Valley failed to hit the stands on Saturday as authorities allegedly raided some media offices and detained a few of their employees.

The new-age poster boy of militancy in Kashmir, was along with two of his aides killed in a fierce encounter with security forces in Kokernag area of southern Anantnag district on Friday.

Here’s more on the new-age militant.
Age: 22
Resident of: Dadsara village of south Kashmir’s Tral.
Terrorist organisation: Days before he was to appear in his Class X examination, Burhan left his home in 2010 to join the region’s frontline indigenous militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.
Family Elder Brother was shot dead by the security forces in the woods of Tral on April 13, 2015. Father Muzaffar Ahmed Wani is a school teacher.

DC Take: Till the last reports came in, as many as 42 people have been killed in the Valley in the violence triggered by killing of a top Hizbul commander. The government has to ensure that this figure does not become just a statistic for it.

Innocent lives have been lost. This is also a major test for Mehbooba Mufti who has recently taken over as the Chief Minister of politically crucial and extremely sensitive state. Mere appeals to people to stay calm, or telling them that violence begets nothing is not even a knee-jerk reaction.

As people at helm, political leaders have to ensure that at first place such situations do not arise. And if at all they do, they have to be dealt with sternly. Killing of Burhan Wani also signals a change in India’s implementation of its counter-insurgency strategy.

Till now, generally, the security forces by and large refrained from going after top rebels fearing a severe backlash. However, with a change at the helm, that strategy seems to be undergoing a subtle change.