Srinagar: In occupied Kashmir, thousands of people offered funeral prayers of martyred Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Aqib Ahmad Butt alias Aqib Moulvi at his ancestral Hyuna village in Tral area of Pulwama district, today.
Funeral prayers of the martyred youth were offered four times to accommodate the unending queues of mourners. Aqib Ahmad Butt along with another youth was martyred by Indian troops during a 15-hour-long military operation at Haffu, Nazneenpora village, yesterday. Local media reported that despite restrictions around fifty thousand people from Tral, Awantipora and other areas of Pulwama district thronged Hyuna to attend the funeral. Amid pro-freedom and anti-India slogans men, women and children bid an emotional farewell to the martyred youth.
The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Syed Ali Gilani while telephonically addressing the mourners paid glowing tributes to martyr Aqib. He reiterated the Kashmiris’ resolve to take the martyrs’ mission to its logical end, against all odds. He said that huge participation of people in martyr’s funeral should serve as an eye-opener for India, which had virtually lost its battle in Jammu and Kashmir. People held forceful anti-India demonstrations after the burial. Many people were injured in the ensuing clashes in the Tral town.
Hurriyet leaders and organizations including Mirwaiz-led forum in their separate statements paid tributes to the martyred youth.
Clashes between protesters and Indian forces were also reported in Pinjoora area of Shopian district, today. The forces had to call off a joint operation after facing stiff resistance from the people of the area. The people in the area took to the streets to protect mujahideen from the attack of the forces’ personnel.
Meanwhile, the authorities placed Hurriyet leaders, Shabbir Ahmad Shah and Zafar Akbar Butt under house arrest.
The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement Chairman, Mir Shahid Saleem addressing a civil society meeting in Rajouri expressed the hope that the communal elements backed by the puppet regime would never succeed in their designs to create a rift among the people of different regions and religions in Jammu and Kashmir.
The AJK chapter of Hurriyet forum at a meeting in Islamabad, today, urged the international human rights organizations to take cognizance of the stepped up Indian state terrorism in the occupied territory.