SRINAGAR: All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front on Wednesday appealed to the people to observe strike on 11 February to commemorate the martyrdom anniversaries of prominent freedom leader, Muhammad Maqbool Butt and Muhammad Afzal Guru in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the APHC at a high-level meeting of its Majlis-e-Shoora in Srinagar deliberated on the current political situation and expressed its grave concern over the prevailing atmosphere of oppression and suppression perpetrated by the Indian forces in the territory.
India had hanged Muhammad Afzal Guru in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on 9th February, 2013 and Muhammad Maqbool Butt in the same jail on 11th February, 1984. Their bodies remain buried in the premises of the jail.
The meeting paid rich tributes and reverence to nearly five lakh martyrs of the liberation movement, who sacrificed their precious lives for the sacred cause of right to self-determination.
The meeting also memorized the great sons of the soil, Mohamed Maqbool Butt and Mohamed Afzal Guru on their martyrdom anniversaries and appealed to the freedom loving people of the territory to observe complete shutdown on 11th February and urged people to visit the martyrs’ houses and express solidarity with the victim families
They said that these great sons of soil sacrificed their lives for the future of the Kashmiri generations. The APHC said that the sacrifices rendered by Muhammad Maqbool Butt, Muhammad Afzal Guru and other martyrs would continue to serve as a beacon of light in the dark night of Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting, while paying rich tributes to these martyrs, said that India could not break the freedom sentiment of the people by hanging them for the crime which they have not committed.
The meeting also appealed to the international human rights organizations to take cognizance of the plight of the Kashmiri prisoners of conscience, languishing in the death cells of Tihar, Agra and other Indian jails. The meeting unanimously thanked Pakistan and its great people for their legitimate and sincere support to the Kashmiris’ just struggle for right to self-determination.
Terming the Kashmir Solidarity Day on 5th February as a symbol of love and respect for the freedom- loving people of Kashmir, the meeting expressed its satisfaction and gratitude for the active role played by Pakistan at international fora. The meeting, while condemning the inhuman and brutal attitude of the Modi-led Indian Hindutva regime, reiterated its commitment and the resolve to lead the ongoing resistance movement to its logical conclusion.
The meeting urged the United Nations and civilized international community to impress upon India to recognise its responsibilities as a signatory to the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir.
The meeting also urged the world community to take cognizance of the current grim situation of nearly ten million people living under the worst siege of Indian forces. The territory has been pushed forcibly to the Stone Age without basic amenities of modern life. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in a statement in Srinagar also made the same appeal.
