Daily Times

Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday paid glowing tributes to the late Kashmiri leader, Syed Ali Shah Gilani for his life-long struggle to liberate his fellow Kashmiris from the foreign subjugation.

The seminar was organized at the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (UAJK) in collaboration with the Youth Forum for Kashmir (YFK), an organization dedicated to the protection of human rights in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir, in connection with the second death anniversary of the illustrious Kashmiri leader, Syed Ali Shah Gilani.

Prominent figures from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), including Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Vice-Chancellor of UAJK, Prof Dr. Muhammad Kaleem Abbasi, and other distinguished scholars, addressed the gathering.

Ghulam Mohammad Safi, a keynote speaker, highlighted Syed Ali Gilani’s unparalleled legacy as a politician, Islamic scholar, and fearless advocate for the rights of the Kashmiri people, particularly their right to self-determination. Safi underscored how Gilani’s unwavering commitment to the freedom of his people endeared him to the masses in Kashmir.

Safi drew a comparison with another Kashmiri leader, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, who struggled for plebiscite in Kashmir for 22 years but compromised his stance to become a puppet Chief Minister of the occupied territory. Safi declared that Syed Ali Gilani’s memory would endure in the hearts and minds of Kashmiri people for generations.

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Kaleem Abbasi praised Syed Ali Gilani’s unwavering dedication to his principles and his belief in United Nations Security Council resolutions as the ultimate path to garner international support for Kashmir. Abbasi urged students to follow in Gilani’s footsteps by bolstering the struggle for the self-determination of the Kashmiri people.

Distinguished scholar and journalist Syed Arif Bahar highlighted various aspects of Syed Ali Gilani’s life, emphasizing his inspiration from the ideologies of Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Syed Maududi. Bahar stressed that without Gilani’s visionary leadership, the Kashmir Freedom movement could have faced a fate similar to the struggle for the liberation of Palestine after the Camp David Accord.