People across Azad Jammu and Kashmir and rest of the world observed the 88th Kashmir Martyrs Day on Saturday with renewal of the pledge to continue the grand mission of the Kashmiri martyrs through continuing the freedom struggle with full vigor for the achievement of their right to self-determination and for the liberation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir from the tyrannical Indian occupation.
The historic day was marked with special ceremonies held to pay tributes to the martyrs of Jammu and Kashmir, including valiant 22 sons of the soil who laid down their precious lives 87 years ago this day (July 13) in 1931 in front of Central Jail Srinagar.
It was on this day in 1931 when the Dogra troops had shot dead 22 Kashmiris in front of the Central Jail Srinagar. A large number of people had gathered outside the jail protesting against the trial of a young man Abdul Qadeer for treason inside the prison.
Symposiums and meetings were the hallmark of the Kashmir Martyrs Day across Azad Jammu and Kashmir, various places of Indian-held Kashmir and rest of the world. In Azad Kashmir, it was a state holiday to facilitate the people to participate in the events of the day from all over the territory.
This year, the Kashmir Martyrs Day was flanked by the sign of a new hope, that if India agrees to the ground realities without any reservations and learns a lesson from the historical facts that New Delhi cannot rule Kashmiris by force, it may help bring a lasting peace and prosperity in the region through early and peaceful settlement of the dispute in line with the aspirations of the people of entire Jammu and Kashmir.
Despite the ongoing hectic electioneering in the wake of July 21 elections in AJK, people from all walks of life held special prayer meeting besides staging rallies and seminars to pay tributes to the Kashmiri martyrs at various places to mark the day. Special Kashmir Martyrs Day meetings were held at almost all the district and tehsil headquarters including Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bagh, Rawalakot, Sudhanoti, Neelam valley, Haveili, Hattiyan and Bhimbher, and other small and major towns and cities under the banner of various social, political and religious Kashmiri outfits.
Addressing these functions, the speakers paid tributes to the Kashmiris martyrs of 1931 who were gunned down by the then Dogra rulers outside the Central Jail Srinagar for raising voice for the liberation of the motherland.
In Mirpur, a special prayer meeting was held at local deputy commissioner’s office to pray for the martyrs besides for success of the freedom of occupied part of the Jammu and Kashmir state from long forced and unlawful clutches of the Indian imperialism. The speakers strongly condemned the continued state violence unleashed by the Indian occupational forces in Srinagar and rest of the valley since last three years wherein hundreds of innocent Kashmiris including Burhan Muzaffar Wani were martyred for raising voice for the liberation of the motherland from Indian clutches.
