Pak Issues Stamps Commemorating Slain Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani

The stamps were issued to hail Wani as Pakistan’s national hero.

Pakistan Post has issued at least 20 postage stamps featuring slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani, and others who died in pellet gun attack as Pakistan’s national heroes, The Times of India reported.

Quoting a Pakistani official, the report said that the stamps were issued to commemorate the plight of 'heroes' such as Wani who gave their life in the fight against 'Indian oppression' especially the Indian Army.

Along with the photos, the stamps carried captions such as 'use of chemical weapons', 'use of pellet guns' and 'Burhan Wani (1994-2016).'

The postage stamps were issued by Karachi’s Philately Bureau, on ‘Kashmir Martyrs Day’ (13 July) this year. In Pakistan, the stamps are sold at Rs 8 per piece and are also available on e-shopping portals, according to The Times of India.

INDIA’S RESPONSE

Responding to the postage stamps issued by Pakistan, Indian philatelist, C Tamilvannan, told The Times of India that the move made by the neighbouring country was done to malign India's image.

“I have never come across stamps that are such distortion of facts. The postal departments issue commemoration stamps to popularise their culture and uniqueness, but this is in poor taste.”

C Tamilvannan, philatelist

Another philatelist, Jagannath Mani of Philately Congress of India said that the pictures have been used to mislead people across the globe. Mani also resolved to write to the External Affairs Ministry requesting, India's intervention on the stamps issued by Pakistan, The Times of India reported.

THE BACKDROP

Burhan Wani, a 21-year-old senior Hizbul Mujahideen commander and the face of new generation militancy in Kashmir, was killed in an encounter in Kokernag area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, 8 July 2016.

Following his death, widespread protests erupted in Kashmir which resulted in a state of emergency in the valley for 53 consecutive days. The violence following Wani's funeral saw the death of at least 91 people in the state of Jammu and Kasmir.

The state also suffered losses to the tune of over Rs 16,000 crore during the five-month long unrest in the Kashmir Valley due to complete halt of economic activity coupled with loss of property worth crores of rupees.

(With inputs from The Times of India)