SRINAGAR: Illegally detained Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Masarrat Aalam Butt and senior leaders Shabbir Ahmad Shah and Nayeem Ahmad Khan have commended the resilient people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) for steadfastly engaging in a robust political struggle against India, both domestically and internationally.

According to a Kashmir Media Service report on Monday, the leaders in their messages from New Delhi’s Tihar jail highlighted the political maturity, wisdom, and practical approach demonstrated by the people of IIOJK, particularly in their observance of the shutdown on February 11 to honor the martyrdom anniversary of the revered liberation leader, Muhammad Maqbool Butt.

It is worth noting that Muhammad Maqbool Butt was executed in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on February 11, 1984. Another Kashmiri leader Muhammad Afzal Guru met a similar fate on February 9, 2013. Both the leaders were executed without fair trials for their pivotal roles in the ongoing freedom movement of Kashmiris.

The APHC leaders reiterated their unwavering commitment to the cause of freedom, stressing that heroes like Maqbool Butt and Afzal Guru, unjustly executed, remain integral to the resistance movement’s spirit.

In condemning the recent surge in arbitrary arrests across the occupied territory, the leaders said that such oppressive tactics cannot deter the Kashmiri populace from their pursuit of freedom from Indian subjugation.

Furthermore, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmad Shah and Nayeem Ahmad Khan called upon the United Nations to take decisive action to compel India to halt its atrocities, including genocide, extrajudicial killings and gross human rights violations perpetrated by its troops in IIOJK. It stressed the urgent need for a resolution to the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and the UN resolutions.