Daily Times

All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders paying glowing tribute to prominent Kashmiri leader, Muhammad Maqbool Butt, on the eve of his 40th martyrdom anniversary have said the Kashmiri people are duty-bound to safeguard the martyrs’ sacrifices by taking their mission to its logical conclusion.

According to Kashmir Media Service, illegally detained APHC leader, Molvi Bashir Ahmed Irfani, in a message from jail maintained Muhammad Maqbool Butt, Muhammad Afzal Guru and other martyrs infused a new life in the Kashmir freedom movement and they will remain the source of inspiration for the Kashmiri people. He said the Kashmiris will never forget their heroes.

Molvi Bashir Irfani said the best way to pay homage to the martyrs is to carry forward their mission. He maintained that the blood of the martyrs and the sacrifices of Kashmiris will definitely bring positive results and Kashmir will achieve freedom from the Indian illegal occupation soon.

APHC leaders, Khawaja Firdous, Syed Bashir Andrabi and Muhammad Shafi Lone in a joint statement issued in Srinagar said the sacrifices of Maqbool Butt, Afzal Guru and other martyrs have made the Kashmir dispute a focus of attention at the international level. They maintained that the Kashmiri people will accomplish the mission of their martyrs at all costs. They also urged India to hand over the mortal remains of Maqbool Butt and Afzal Guru to their families for proper burial.

Meanwhile, APHC-AJK chapter leaders including Muhammad Farooq Rehmani and Muhammad Sultan Butt in their statements issued in Islamabad paid homage to Muhammad Maqbool Butt and Muhammad Afzal Guru and said that they were sent to the gallows by the Indian government and judiciary without giving them the right to defence.

They said over one hundred thousand Kashmiris have been martyred by India since the execution of Maqbool Butt in 1984 and thousands of others are languishing in the far-flung Indian jails. They called upon the world community to take cognizance of the grave human rights situation in occupied Kashmir and prevail upon India to resolve the lingering Kashmir dispute by the UN resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people for ensuring permanent peace in South Asia.