Sialan, Poonch martyrs remembered on 28th martyrdom anniversary
Islamabad: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter has paid tributes to the martyrs of the Sialan, Poonch massacre on their 28th martyrdom anniversary.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the APHC-AJK chapter organized a seminar at its office in Islamabad today to pay tributes to the martyrs of Sialan. APHC-AJK Convener Ghulam Muhammad Safi presided over the seminar.
The personnel of the Rashtriya Rifles of the Indian Army martyred 19 family members of Shaheed Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, known as Major Gul, in the Sialan area of Sarnakot in Poonch district on the night of August 3-4, 1998.
The martyrs included men, women and children from the families of Lassa Sheikh, Ahmed Din Sheikh and Hasan Muhammad.
Addressing the seminar, the Hurriyat leaders lamented that the families of the martyrs were still waiting for justice even after 28 years. They said a case was registered against the killers from the Indian Army following strong public protests, but the criminals have not been punished to date and are roaming freely.
The speakers said that on July 25, 1998, almost a week before the massacre, five members of the same family, including three women, a man and a child, were brutally killed by Indian soldiers in the Kotal area of Doda district in the dark of night.
The Hurriyat leaders said the killer Indian officials were dressed in civilian clothes and are also moving about freely. They said the great sacrifices of the martyrs will never go in vain and Kashmiris will definitely achieve freedom from Indian rule. They appealed to the international community to play its role and stop Indian state terrorism in occupied Kashmir.
