Srinagar
In occupied Kashmir, the veteran Hurriyat leader, Syed Ali Gilani, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and the Hurriyat forum led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have appealed to the people of the territory to observe complete shutdown on Monday, 13th July, to reaffirm the pledge to continue the mission of their martyrs till the achievement of the inalienable right to self-determination.
On the 13th of July 1931, the troops of Dogra Maharaja had killed 22 Kashmiris, one after the other, outside the Central Jail in Srinagar during the court proceedings against one Abdul Qadeer who had asked Kashmiri people to defy the Dogra rule. Since then, Kashmiris have been observing 13th July as Kashmir Martyrs’ Day.
Syed Ali Gilani in a tweet maintained that the people of occupied Kashmir have not submitted to the Indian oppression for the last several decades and they will continue their battle against this brutal occupation till the dawn of freedom. In another tweet he urged people to observe shutdown on 13th July.
The APHC in a statement in Srinagar said 1931 mass movement was Kashmiris’ first collective struggle against the centuries-old autocratic rule and those killed on 13th July are considered to be the first martyrs of the ongoing freedom movement. It also called for a march towards the Martyrs’ Graveyard at Naqashband Sahib in Srinagar to pay homage to the martyrs of 1931 who are buried there. The Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat forum in its statement said 13th July 1931 is a key milestone in the history of Jammu and Kashmir as a day when the Kashmiris for the first time collectively stood up to resist oppressive autocratic rule and gave expression to their aspirations.
Meanwhile, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred two Kashmiri youth during a military operation in Handwara area of Kupwara district, today. The troops also continued cordon and search operations in Bandipora, Pulwama, Rajouri and Kishtwar districts.
Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema, headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a statement in Srinagar, condemned the arrest and harassment of innocent Kashmiris in the garb of coronavirus lockdown. It said it is ironic that the occupation authorities have banned congregations in mosques and religious places citing COVID-19 but they have opened up gardens and parks and tourist spots for people to give the impression that everything is normal. It said that the situation in occupied Kashmir was pathetic.
Indian police arrested APHC leader and the Acting Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League, Farooq Ahmad Tawheedi, in Srinagar and shifted him to a police station in Sopore. Earlier, the police had arrested Farooq Towheedi’s son, Junaid Ahmed, during a house raid in Sopore. Hurriyat leaders including Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori and Abdul Majeed Mir in their statements denounced the arrest of Farooq Tawheedi.
The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leaders from Kargil during a video conference with party leaders from the Kashmir Valley including Vice President, Omar Abdullah, strongly pleaded the restoration of their district to the Kashmir Valley and the special status of entire Jammu and Kashmir. They demanded revocation of the division of occupied Kashmir into two union territories.—KMS
