The father of slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, who met Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the latter’s ashram in Bengaluru, discussed the situation in the Valley with the spiritual guru.
“I met Sri Sri Ravi Shankar during a personal visit to Bengaluru last week. Since Sri Sri is a man of peace, I apprised him about the ground situation,” Muzaffar Wani said over phone from his residence in south Kashmir’s Tral town.
The killing of Wani’s son Burhan sparked off violence in Kashmir that has left 68 persons dead and thousands others injured as the unrest entered its 51st day on Sunday.
Wani said he also asked Sri Sri to use his influence in finding a solution to Kashmir problem.
“Sri Sri asked me what the people of Kashmir wanted. I asked him to visit the Valley to find out for himself,” he said.
Wani, a teacher by profession, said there should be an unconditional dialogue with the separatists to find a lasting solution to Kashmir problem.
“Hurriyat is the leadership of Kashmir and there should be an unconditional dialogue ... the precondition of ‘within the ambit of Indian Constitution’ will not lead to a solution,” he added.
Burhan’s father had gone to Bengaluru on Thursday for ‘treatment’ of a health-related issue and returned home on Saturday.
A photograph of Wani with the Sri Sri, posted by the latter on Twitter, has gone viral on social networking sites.
Wani said he had gone to Bengaluru to get treatment for his diabetes problem at the Sri Sri Ayurvedic hospital. “I did not stay in a hotel as i did not find it safe. I stayed at the Ashram (of Sri Sri),” he said.
“Muzaffar Wani, the father of Burhan Wani was in the ashram for the last 2 days. We discussed several issues,” Ravi Shankar had tweeted, without elaborating. The tweet was accompanied by a picture of the two together.
His elder son, Khalid, was also killed by security forces during an anti-militancy operation in the forests of Tral in April last year.
Photograph: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar/Twitter