APHC pays tribute to martyr leaders Mirwaiz Farooq and Ghani Lone
UN, ICRC urged to intervene for release of Kashmiri political prisoners
Srinagar : The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has paid rich tribute to prominent martyred Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone on their martyrdom anniversaries in Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq was assassinated by unidentified gunmen at his residence in Srinagar on May 21, 1990. On the same day, over 70 mourners were killed when Indian troops opened indiscriminate fire on his funeral procession in the Hawal area of Srinagar.
Twelve years later, on May 21, 2002, unknown attackers shot dead Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone as he was returning after addressing a gathering at the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar.
APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, in a statement issued in Srinagar, said Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq, Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone and other martyrs of Kashmir are the heroes of the Kashmiri people. He said Kashmiris, on the martyrdom anniversaries of these leaders, vow to accomplish their mission at all costs.
The APHC said these noble souls sacrificed their lives for the great and sacred cause of freedom. He said they were torchbearers of the freedom movement, and their struggle, teachings and sacrifices are role models for future generations of Kashmir.
The spokesman said that besides being a visionary leader, Mirwaiz Farooq was a great Islamic scholar, orator and preacher who, through his powerful and soul-stirring sermons, educated and organized oppressed Kashmiris to raise their voice against Indian oppression.
The statement said Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone was a prudent and outspoken leader who advocated peaceful coexistence between India and Pakistan. He said this brave, courageous, fearless and heedful leader sacrificed his life for his belief in a peaceful and pro-people resolution of the Kashmir dispute. The APHC said the assassination of these leaders was followed by the killing of many prominent scholars, intellectuals, human rights defenders, academics and social workers.
The custodial deaths of iconic leader Syed Ali Gilani, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai and Altaf Ahmed Shah are also recent examples of Indian brutality, he added.
The statement said India, under a well-planned conspiracy, is eliminating pro-freedom leaders to render the ongoing Kashmir freedom movement leaderless. He said almost all APHC leaders are languishing and rotting in jails inhuman conditions. He said most of these leaders, including APHC Chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Aasiya Andrabi, Advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom, Mushtaqul Islam, Bilal Siddiqi, Maulvi Bashir Andrabi, Peer Saifullah, Aiyaz Akbar, Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Shaidul Islam, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Dr Qasim Fakhtoo, Naheeda Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi and other leaders and activists languishing in different jails, have been kept in jail without medical care and other basic legal facilities.
He appealed to the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights bodies to come forward to save the lives of these Kashmiri political prisoners.
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