Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and world over observed Jammu Martyrs’ Day, today, to reaffirm their resolve to continue the liberation struggle till the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.
Hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris were killed in the first week of November in 1947 by the forces of Maharaja Hari Singh, Indian army and Hindu hooligans in different parts of Jammu region while they were migrating to Pakistan.
Resistance leaders including Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Muhammad Yasin Malik and Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi in their separate statements termed the massacre of Jammu as the worst chapter of the history of Jammu and Kashmir. They paid glowing tributes to the Jammu martyrs and said that their sacrifices would never be allowed to go waste. They deplored that the colonial and fascist mindset that carried out Jammu carnage in 1947 was even today busy in massacring Kashmiri youth without any remorse or regret.
A prayers meeting was held at the All Parties Hurriyat Conference headquarters in Srinagar to eulogize the sacrifices of the Jammu martyrs. The meeting was attended among others by APHC leaders Muhammad Yousuf Naqash, Muhammad Yasin Aatai, Molvi Bashir Irfani, Khawaja Firdous Wani, Syed Muhammad Shafi, Arshad Aziz and Prof Nazir Ahmed.
Meanwhile, thousands of people amid massive pro-freedom and anti-India slogans participated in the funeral processions of two martyred youth at Safanagri and Awneera areas of Shopian district, today. The youth, Muhammad Idrees Sultan and Amir Hussain Rathar, were martyred by Indian troops during a cordon and search operation in Safanagri area of the district. Multiple rounds of funeral prayers were held as a sea of people from Shopian, Islamabad and Kulgam districts thronged the native areas of the martyred youth. The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani while telephonically addressing the mourners from his Hyderpora residence in Srinagar said that the Kashmiri youth were laying down their lives for a sacred cause.
Indian police arrested over a dozen youth during house raids in Dhandal and Gurmal-Kastigarh areas of Doda district in Jammu region.
In Islamabad, speakers at a roundtable organized by the APHC-AJK chapter, today, remembered the Jammu martyrs of November 1947. They said that the Muslims were killed for their aspiration to join Pakistan. Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, Abdul Hameed Lone, Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, Chaudhry Pervez Ashraf, Abdur Rasheed Turabi and Sardar Sagheer Chughtai.
