Srinagar: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has paid glowing tributes to the victims of the Kupwara massacre on their 31st martyrdom anniversary, observed today in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Indian troops had brutally killed 27 innocent Kashmiris on this day in 1994 as a punitive act against the people of Kupwara for observing a shutdown on Indian Republic Day, January 26.
In a statement issued in Srinagar, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas deplored that Indian forces responsible for the massacre have yet to be held accountable. He urged international human rights organizations to fulfill their responsibility in seeking justice for the victims.
Minhas reaffirmed that the sacrifices of the martyrs would not be forgotten and pledged that the peaceful struggle for self-determination would continue at all costs.
Residents visited the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Kupwara to offer prayers for the victims of the massacre and other Kashmiri martyrs.
Meanwhile, justice remains elusive for the families of the victims, even after 31 years. Local accounts reveal that a day before the massacre, an Indian army officer had warned local shopkeepers against observing a shutdown and instructed them to attend Republic Day celebrations at a local camp. When the shopkeepers refused and began opening their shops the following day, Indian soldiers arrived in trucks and indiscriminately opened fire, killing 27 people and injuring many others.