Indian military, paramilitary and police personnel have committed scores of brutal massacres in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir in the last over three decades to suppress the Kashmiris’ struggle for right to self-determination.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the phenomenon of mass killing of the Kashmiris started with the Magarmal Bagh massacre in Srinagar on this day in 1990 in which Indian troops gunned down 14 innocent people by resorting to indiscriminate firing. So far, hundreds of innocent Kashmiris have been martyred and property worth billions of rupees has been destroyed in over 30 mass killing incidents perpetrated by the troops across the occupied territory since 1989. The massacres of Gaw Kadal Srinagar, Sopore, Handwara and Kupwara are some of the worst examples of Indian state terrorism in occupied Kashmir. Unfortunately, not a single Indian soldier involved in these heinous crimes has been punished and justice continues to elude the families of the victims.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders including Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, Yasmeen Raja, Farida Bahenji, Syed Bashir Andrabi and Khawaja Firdous in their statements paying glowing tributes to the martyrs of Magarmal Bagh carnage said the Indian brutalities cannot force the Kashmiris to give up their freedom struggle. They maintained that the sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs will not be allowed to go waste and their mission will be accomplished at all costs. They demanded an impartial investigation through some international probe agency into all massacres in the occupied territory to punish the involved Indian troops.
Meanwhile, posters appeared in different areas of occupied Kashmir urging the people to observe India’s Republic Day on 26 January as Black Day to convey the message to international community that India continues to usurp the basic and democratic rights of the Kashmiris for the last over seven decades. They said India has no legal or moral justification to celebrate its Republic Day in Kashmir as it has illegally occupied the territory against the will of the Kashmiri people.
Scores of social and political activists during an interaction with the prominent members of the Indian civil society in Jammu, today, called for comprehensive dialogue among India, Pakistan and genuine Kashmiri leadership to settle the Kashmir dispute, once for all. The event was organized by United Peace Alliance, an association of several socio-political organizations and activists.—KMS
