Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders and organizations continued to pay rich tributes to prominent liberation leaders Shaheed Muhammad Afzal Guru and Shaheed Muhammad Maqbool Butt on their martyrdom anniversaries.
Senior APHC leader and President of Anjuman Sharie Shian, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi while paying tributes to Shaheed Afzal Guru and Shaheed Maqbool Butt said that their sacrifice would not be allowed to go waste. He said that Kashmiri people would continue their struggle for securing their right to self-determination till complete success.
Agha Al-Moosvi maintained that the tension between India and Pakistan is only due to the lingering Kashmir dispute. He appealed to the international community and the United Nations to play a role in resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions. He urged India to give up its stubbornness and accept the facts and resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the Kashmiris’ aspiration and the UN resolutions.
Senior Hurriyat leader Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori while addressing a function in memory of Muhammad Maqbool Butt, Muhammad Afzal Guru and other martyrs of Kashmir in Srinagar said the cause for which they sacrificed their lives requires the participation of the entire population in the struggle for freedom. He said that due to the sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs, a just and lasting solution to the Kashmir dispute is under discussion at global level. Khan Sopori reiterated his demand for return of the mortal remains of the two great sons of Kashmir buried in Delhi’s Tihar jail.
Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Chairman Shabbir Ahmed Dar, Vice Chairman Sharifuddin and General Secretary Shaikh Muzaffar in a joint statement also paid tributes to the two proud sons of Kashmir. They said that the two resistance icons were sent to the gallows by India in infamous Tihar jail with absolutely no case against them and no fair trial.
Khawaja Firdous, APHC leader and chairman of Democratic Political Movement, in a statement in Srinagar, while paying homage to Muhammad Afzal Guru and Muhammad Maqbool Butt said that Kashmiri people would continue their struggle till fulfillment of the mission of the martyrs. He said that the Indian government had illegally hanged Afzal Guru on this very day in 2013 in the New Delhi’s notorious Tihar Jail.
He said that the Indian Supreme Court had itself admitted that the allegations leveled against Shaheed Guru were not substantiated but the court under pressure from the Indian government and Hindu extremists, sentenced him to death.
Jammu and Kashmir Tehreek-e-Istiqlal General Secretary, Abdul Hameed, along with a delegation visited the house of Shaheed Muhammad Afzal Guru. He expressed solidarity with the family of Afzal Guru and offered Fateha for his soul.
Talking to the family of the martyred leader, he said that the sacrifice of Afzal Guru would always be remembered.
APHC leader and the Patron of Jammu and Kashmir Mass Movement, Farida Bahenji, also demanded the bodies of the martyred leaders so that they could be buried in the occupied Valley in accordance with the Islamic values.
The Acting Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League, Abdul Ahad Parra, in his statement said that India had unconstitutionally hanged Muhammad Afzal Guru and Muhammad Maqbool Butt to terrorize the Kashmiris to give up their just freedom struggle. However, he added, the executions of these leaders strengthened the resolve and commitment of the Kashmiri people towards the freedm movement.
Jammu and Kashmir National Front while paying tribute to Afzal Guru in a statement said that his hanging was a ruthless murder of justice. The execution of Afzal Guru, it said, reinforced the point that there was no justice for Kashmiris in the Indian courts. Reiterating the Kashmiris’ pledge to take the ongoing liberation struggle to its logical end, the JKNF said that the people of Kashmir would follow in footprints of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their motherland.
Jammu and Kashmir Islami Tanzeem-e-Azadi in a statement demanded of the global human rights watchdog to stop India from committing genocide of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party spokesman in a statement in Srinagar said that Afzal Guru was hanged to death without being given a fair trial. Terming it as a clear case of judicial murder, he said, “The execution was carried out just to terrify the people of Kashmir by sending them a message that to what extent Indian state can go to crush the freedom struggle of the Kashmiris.” But with all its brutality and cruelty India could not suppress the Kashmiris’ freedom sentiment, he said. Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the DFP Acting Chairman, Mehmood Ahmed Saghar, welcomed the resolution adopted by New York Legislative Assembly relating to observance of 5th February as Kashmir American Day. He termed it a significant development and a great diplomatic success of Pakistan. He also praised efforts made by the American-Pakistani Advocacy Group and Pakistani missions across the United States of America in highlighting Kashmir issue in the USA.
Kashmir Tehreek-e-Khawateen spokesperson Rafia Rasool in a statement in Srinagar paying homage to Muhammad Afzal Guru and Muhammad Maqbool Butt on their martyrdom anniversaries described their executions as the most shameful acts of the Indian government and a blot on the so-called democratic face of India. She said that the best way to pay tribute to the martyrs of Kashmir was to remain steadfast in pursuance of demand for settlement of the Kashmir dispute according to the will of the Kashmiri people.
India had hanged Muhammad Afzal Guru on this day in 2013 and Muhammad Maqbool Butt on February 11 in 1984 in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail for their role in the Kashmir freedom movement and buried their bodies in the jail premises.—KMS
