SRINAGAR: A complete shutdown was observed today in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to mark the 40th martyrdom anniversary of prominent Kashmiri leader, Muhammad Maqbool Butt.
According to Kashmir Media Service, India had hanged Muhammad Maqbool Butt in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on this day in 1984 for his leading role in the Kashmiris’ ongoing freedom movement and buried him in the premises of the prison. The call for the shutdown was given by All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and other Hurriyet parties.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders, including Mohammad Yousf Naqash, Fayaz Hussain Jafari and Syed Sibte Shabbir Qummi have paid glowing tributes to prominent Kashmiri leader Muhammad Maqbool Butt on his martyrdom anniversary and Muhammad Afzal Guru, on his 11th martyrdom anniversary, saying that the martyrs are the real heroes and a great asset of the ongoing freedom movement.
APHC leaders, paying rich tributes to Muhammad Maqbool Butt, maintained that the martyrs are the symbols of the Kashmiris’ freedom struggle against Indian yoke. They said the sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs will not be allowed to go waste and their mission will be accomplished at all costs.
They said that the Kashmiri people would continue to pursue the martyrs’ mission with more determination and vigour. They added that the freedom from Indian bondage is the only way to end Kashmiris’ woes.
APHC-AJK chapter Convener Mehmood Ahmad Saghar and other leaders, including Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Muhammad Sultan Butt, Qazi Imran and Uzair Ahmad Ghazali in their statements paid homage to Muhammad Maqbool Butt and said that he was sent to the gallows by the Indian government and judiciary without giving him the right to defence.
Meanwhile, posters with pictures of prominent Kashmiri martyrs, including Muhammad Maqbool Butt and Muhammad Afzal Guru, appeared in different areas of the territory. The posters read messages reiterating the Kashmiris’ resolve to carry their freedom movement to its logical conclusion.