In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, complete shutdown will be observed on Saturday, May 21, to commemorate the martyrdom anniversaries of prominent liberation leaders Mirwaiz Molvi Mohammad Farooq and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone and martyrs of Hawal.
Call for the shutdown has been given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference which is also aimed at protesting against the illegal detention of Hurriyat leaders and activists lodged in different jails of IIOJK and India and to pay tribute to their dedication and commitment to the ongoing freedom movement.
Protest rallies would be organised on that day against the genocide of the Kashmiris by the Indian forces in the territory. People would visit the Martyrs’ Graveyard at Eid Gah in Srinagar to offer fateha for all the Kashmiri martyrs. The APHC asked the Imams and Khateebs to remember the martyrs in their five-time daily prayers in mosques.
Unidentified gunmen had shot dead Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq at his residence in Srinagar on 21st May in 1990. On the same day, seventy mourners were killed when Indian troops opened indiscriminate fire on his funeral procession in Hawal area of Srinagar. Twelve years later on May 21 in 2002, unknown attackers had assassinated Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone when he was returning after addressing a gathering at the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar.—KMS
