Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK): People across Azad Jammu & Kashmir Sunday observed the 34th martyrdom anniversary of eminent leader of Kashmir Freedom Movement Muhammad Maqbool Butt with the renewal of the pledge to continue the mission of the departed leader of the Kashmir freedom struggle till the achievement of the Kashimirs legitimate right of self determination under the spirit of the U.N resolutions and through the liberation of the motherland from long Indian yoke.
Processions were taken out and the rallies held in all small and major towns of AJK to pay glorious tributes to shaheed Maqbool Butt who was put to gallows by India this day in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail this day in 1984 for his “offence” of demanding the birth right of self determination for the people of Jammu Kashmir state under the spirit of the international norms and commitments to this direction.
According to the host organizations which arranged special functions in Mirpur Sunday to observe the anniversary of one of the founders leader of the Kashmir freedom struggle, a joint demonstration was staged coupled with a big procession taken out by various social, political and student organizations including Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Conference, Jammu Kashmir Plebiscite Front, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation, J & K Students Liberation Front and other groups, to pay glorious tributes to the eminent hero of the Kashmir Freedom struggle. The public mob marched through major city streets chanting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans besides the slogans in commemoration of the supreme sacrifices of lives by Maqbool Butt, Dr. Afzal Guru and other Kashmiri martyrs.
The procession converged into a mammoth rally at the central Shaheed chowk. Addressing the rally speakers including ex President of Jammu Kashmir Plebiscite Front’s leaders including ex President Muhammad Azeem Dutt Advocate, JKLF leaders Saad Insari Advocate and Khawaja Pervez Iqbal and others paid rich tributes to Maqbool Butt for giving the supreme sacrifice of his life for the cause of the liberation of Jammu & Kashmir from the Indian yoke. Speakers reiterated Kashmiris resolve to continue their mission for bringing the Kashmir freedom struggle to its logical end.
Speakers called upon the international community to exert pressure on India to immediately handover the mortal remains of Maqbool Butt shaheed to his family members and friends for its proper burial with traditional religious respect and honour.
Speakers said that Maqbool Butt’s Martyrdom day of February 11, 1984 is the black day in the history of Kashmir Freedom movement when on this day India deprived Kashmiris a great hero of their just and principled freedom struggle. They said that sacrifice of life by Maqbool Butt infused a new spirit and resolve among Kashmiris to accelerate their struggle for the achievement of their fundamental right of self determination constantly being denied by India since last 71 years.
Speakers said “best way to pay rich tributes to late Maqbool Butt is to continue the mission of the departed founder leader of the freedom struggle till the achievement of the goal”. They said that the supreme sacrifice of life by shaheed Maqbool Butt is the beacon light for the Kashmiri people in their indigenous struggle for freedom which infused a new spirit in the struggle for right to self determination
“Paying rich tributes to Kashmiri freedom-fighter Muhammad Afzal Guru, hanged in New Delhi’s Tihar jail three years ago, speakers stated that Guru was wrongly implicated in the case as he was already behind the bars in the Indian prison on the day of alleged attack on the Indian parliament’s building in New Delhi in 2001”.
Speakers called upon the International court of justice to institute an inquiry commission to probe in to judicial murder of Afzal Guru. They urged upon United Nations as well as International Human Rights Organizations especially the Amnesty International to immediately move against the continued genocide of the innocent Kashmiris in Indian-held Kashmir .
Speakers lamented India for constantly acting upon her traditional policy of deviation and stubbornness with the ulterior motives to continue depriving Kashmiris their birth right of self determination. They demanded inclusion of Jammu Kashmir people, major party to the Kashmir dispute, in the dialogue between India and Pakistan for the early peaceful resolution of Kashmir issue according to their (Kashmiris) aspirations. They reminded United Nations of its due responsibility to play its due role for the early peaceful settlement of the Kashmir problem according to the wishes of Jammu & Kashmir people with the special attention to save the region from the threat of any nuclear Indo-Pak conflict.
Speakers also demanded immediate demilitarization of occupied Jammu & Kashmir state, unconditional release of all the political detenus, repeal of all black laws in the Indian-held territory. They also demanded immediate handing over of the mortal remains of both shaheed Maqbool Butt and Afzal Guru to their families for burial in their ancestral grave yards in occupied Kashmir valley.
Earlier a large number of the activists of JKNLF, JKLF, Plebiscite Front, NSF and other social and political organizations took out a torch bearing procession at Shaheed chowk Saturday night to eulogize the contribution of the martyred Kashmiri leader to the freedom struggle. The participants of the rally put on the candles of freedom in memory of the Kashmiri martyrs coupled with the renewal of the pledge to continue the mission of late Maqbool Butt, Afzal Guru and other Kashmiri martyrs to make the Kashmir freedom struggle a complete success.
Speakers paid glorious tributes to Maqbool Butt Shaheed and Afzal Guru Shaheed besides to all other martyrs of Jammu & Kashmir who laid down supreme sacrifices of their lives for the cause of the freedom of Jammu & Kashmir.
Speakers on this occasion called upon the comity of nations to help stop massive human rights abuses in occupied Jammu & Kashmir – which India has literally turned into a garrison with continued nefarious and abortive move to suppress Kashmiris indigenous struggle for freedom of the motherland from Indian yoke, they concluded