In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders and organizations have paid glowing tributes to the Kashmiri martyrs of July 13, 1931.
22 Kashmiris were killed by the troops of Dogra Maharaja in Srinagar on this day in 1931. They were part of thousands of people who had assem-bled outside Central Jail, Srinagar, during the court proceedings against one Abdul Qadeer who had asked Kashmiri people to defy the Dogra rule.
At the time of Namaz-e-Zuhr, a young man started the call for prayers (Azaan) and was shot dead by the Maharaja’s soldiers.
Another took his place and he too was martyred by the troops. Thus, 22 youth sacrificed their lives till the completion of Azaan.
Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee (AAC), headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, held a prayer meeting at its office in Srinagar to pay hom-age to the martyrs of 13th July and all other martyrs since then who have sacrificed their lives for the realisation of the aspirations and rights of the strug-gling people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The AAC in a statement issued after the meeting said July 13 1931 was the watershed moment in the contemporary history of Jammu and Kashmir when twenty two Kashmiris were killed in cold blood by the ruler of the day that led to the launch of the political agita-tion by the people of Kashmir for the realisation of their political and economic rights and aspirations.
Senior Hurriyat leader, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopore, paying homage to the martyrs of July 13, 1931, said the struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for justice and freedom is very old and is still going on. He said the sacrifice of the martyrs of 1931 is a milestone for the present struggle.
He said these martyrs are heroes of the history of Kashmir who encouraged the people of Jammu and Kashmir to rise up against the tyrants and oppres-sors.
He said the Kashmiris are indebted to the mar-tyrs who fought against the autocratic ruler and the ongoing movement is the continuation of the strug-gle launched by the martyrs of July 13, 1931.
The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Mass Moment, Molvi Bashir Ahmed Irfani, in a statement said the mission of the martyrs of July 31 is yet to be completed and thousands of Kashmiris have rendered their lives for the purpose.
He said that 1931st movement was not only a revolt against autocratic ruler and his atrocities but also a struggle against the desecration of Islamic rites.
The Kash-miri leadership of the time betrayed the nation for the first time in 1938, when it turned the Muslim Conference into the National Conference and this cycle of betrayal and deception continues to this day, he deplored.
He said the best way to pay hom-age to all the martyrs of Kashmir is that we continue our struggle till we achieve the right to self-determination.
“The Kashmiri people will continue their peaceful struggle in despite all atrocities and coercion. We will not give up the demand for the right to self-determination,” he added.
The Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Chairman, Shabbir Ahmed Dar, in a statement said the people of Kashmir have rendered unparalleled sacrifices for the freedom of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said for the last over seven decades, Kashmiris are resisting the illegitimate occupation of India.
He deplored that Indian forces are resorting to the worst human rights violations in IIOJK to suppress the Kashmiris’ freedom struggle.
He said it is the re-sponsibility of every Kashmiri to take the mission of the martyrs of 13th July to its logical conclusion.
The Jammu Kashmir Peoples Movement Chairman, Mir Shahid Saleem, addressing a meet-ing of sociopolitical activists in Jammu said that on this day more than twenty sons of soil had made a supreme sacrifice to liberate their nation from the brutal dogra regime which was committing relent-less crimes against the people of Kashmir.
The Chairman of Tehreek-e-Muzahamat, Bilal Ahmed Sidiqui, in a statement issued in Srinagar said 13th July 1931 marks political awakening of Kashmiris after near about 500 years of continuous subjugation and occupation.
He maintained that the Kashmiris will continue their struggle till the mis-sion of their martyrs was accomplished.
The Chairman of Kashmir Freedom Front, Syed Bashir Andrabi, in a statement in Srinagar said that the unprecedented sacrifices rendered by the people of Kashmir for the Kashmir cause would not be allowed go waste and would definitely bring fruit.
He stated that the Indian brutalities could not break the Kashmiris’ resolve for freedom.
