Kashmir Martyrs Day being observed today

ISLAMABAD: Kashmir Martyrs Day is being observed across the country including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) today (Monday) to pay homage to 22 Kashmiris martyred by the troops of Dogra Maharaja on July 13, 1931 for appearing outside the Central Jail in Srinagar in support of Abdul Qadeer who was charged for propelling people to defy the Dogra Rule.

Functions and seminars, across the AJK, have also been arranged to pay glowing tributes to martyrs on this day. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has appealed the Kashmiris to observe a complete strike in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) in view of the ‘Kashmir Martyrs Day.’

In a statement, the APHC spokesman said the strike call was given to stress the urgent need for a peaceful and just solution to the Kashmir dispute. “It was also meant to underline the need for stopping the continuous Indian oppressions against the Hurriyat leaders and the Kashmiri people,” he added.

“Kashmiri martyrs are the real assets of the freedom movement and Kashmiris will never forget their martyrs and will never forgive India for its crimes,” the spokesman remarked. He stressed that the Kashmiris would always remember the sacrifices of their martyrs, saying, “Death over slavery’ is the message of Kashmiri martyrs for India.”

“India can kill Kashmiri youth but it can’t defeat them. The story of Kashmir’s freedom struggle is being written by martyrs’ blood. Kashmiri martyrs are writing the future of their land with their blood. Kashmiri martyrs are alive in the hearts of every Kashmiri,” he maintained.

The spokesman said India assumed that the killing of Kashmiri youth could sabotage the freedom movement but the blood of martyrs was a guiding light for them (Kashmiris). “Kashmiri martyrs are a symbol of resistance in IOJ&K. After every martyrdom, Kashmiris’ resolve gets even stronger. Anti-India and pro-freedom slogans at martyrs’ funeral are a clear message for India that Kashmiris will never let the martyrs’ sacrifices go in vain.”

He said Kashmiris were fully committed to take freedom movement to its logical conclusion as Kashmiri youth was determined to fight Indian atrocities. The spokesman said the Genocide Watch Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also highlighted India’s massacre of Kashmir youth. The world must take notice of India atrocities and should not stay silent on massacre of Kashmiris.