Facebook removes Hamza Ali Abbasi’s post supporting Burhan Wani

July 20, 2016

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Facebook removed actor Hamza Ali Abbasi’s recent post in which he praised the slain Kashmiri rebel Burhan Wani.

“My FB account deactivated for talking about Kashmir,” claimed Hamza in a Tweet, although his Facebook account was accessible.

Hamza had supported Wani in his post, saying the assassinated leader was not an ISI agent but a Kashmiri who had joined the rebellion after his brother was killed by the Indian army.

My FB accnt deactivated for talking abt KASHMIR. #Kashmir #FreeKashmir #RIPFreedomOfExpression pic.twitter.com/JH0XRAYEa2

— Hamza Ali Abbasi (@iamhamzaabbasi) 18 July 2016

“If Kashmir issue is not resolved according to the will of Kashmiris and UN Resolutions, we have another Palestine in the making right in our backyard,” he wrote.

Wani, a 22-year-old commander of the region’s largest rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen was killed in a brief gunfight with Indian forces on July 8.

His death sparked clashes in which over 38 people have so far been killed, and more than 3,000 people, including about 200 police officers, injured.

Hamza is not the only one, however, whose post was deleted.

Facebook has been accused of taking down content posted by Kashmiris as well regarding events unfolding in the region. Even some renowned voices were temporarily blocked and had their posts taken down by Facebook ‘for violating community standards.’

Earlier in January 2015, Facebook removed Hamza’s post on the Paris attack. However, in a rare apology, the website’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, admitted his team may have made a mistake, and hence apologised.