Daily Times

The people from Azad Jammu Kashmir, Pakistan and all over the world on Wednesday remembered the state-sponsored genocide of 22 innocent Kashmiris who were being given credit to have laid the foundation of the movement for liberation from the despotic Dogra rule.

Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, is shaking the conscience of the so-called world community on massive human rights violations and atrocities of Indian occupant forces.

Kashmiris have affirmed their resolve to continue the struggle with full vigor in order to achieve liberation from the tyrannical Indian rule.

The Kashmir Martyrs’ Day is celebrated on July 13 every year for the past 91 years where on this historic day the people of Kashmir and Pakistan around the world commemorate the martyrdom of 22 Kashmiri muezzins who were killed outside the Srinagar Jail on July 13, 1931 by the soldiers of the then Maharaja of Kashmir while giving the call to prayer and numerous Muslims were also arrested.

Special prayers, meetings and symposiums were held across Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), the strife-torn Indian occupied Kashmir valley and rest of the world to observe the day. It was a public holiday in the AJK.

The dream of the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmiris (IIOJK) to win right to self-determination would come true one day, Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani said.

In a special message on Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, he said that lasting peace in South Asia was impossible without resolving the Kashmir issue. “International community should take stern notice of the atrocities committed by Indian occupied forces in IIOJK and play its role in ending the ongoing human rights violations in occupied valley” Sanjrani emphasized.

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram said securing a resolution for the festering Kashmir dispute was important in view of the massive suffering faced by the Kashmiris and as a threat to regional and international peace and security.

Munir Akram said India’s occupation forces had martyred over 100,000 Kashmiris since 1985 with the initiation of their struggle to secure the legitimate right to self-determination as promised to them by the resolutions of the Security Council.

The government and people of Pakistan solemnly observed the 91st Youm-e-Shuhada-e-Kashmir (Kashmir Martyrs’ Day) and paid homage to the 22 Kashmiri martyrs who rendered the ultimate sacrifice while braving the indiscriminate force unleashed on them in 1931 by the Dogra forces.

In connection with the Day, All Parties Hurriyat Conference-Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) General Secretary Sheikh Abdul Mateen paid tribute to the Kashmiri martyrs. Despite lapse of some 91 years the Kashmiris’ struggle for freedom from the Indian yoke had not slowed down, rather it was gaining momentum with each passing day, he said. In Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee (AAC) also paid rich tributes to the Martyrs of July 13, 1931 on their 91st martyrdom anniversary.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Awami Action Committee in a statement issued in Srinagar, said the party recalled the sacrifices and paid glowing tributes to the martyrs of 13th July and to all the martyrs since then who have sacrificed their lives for the rights of the struggling people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, or Youme Shuhada-e-Kashmir is observed on July 13 every year not only on both sides of the Line of Control but also all over the world by the Kashmiris to pay homage to 23 Kashmiris who were martyred in 1931 to free Kashmir from the brutalities of despotic Dogra rulers. The tragic day is the milestone in the Kashmiris’ struggle against foreign occupation which still continues against the Indian alien rule. The history of Dogra rule (1846-1947) in Kashmir is replete with brutal treatment of Kashmiri Muslims perpetrated by Dogra forces. Slave labour, heavy taxes, capital punishment for cow slaughter, and living under constant state-terror was order of the day. On July 13, 1931, thousands of people crowded the Central Jail Srinagar to witness the in-camera trial of Abdul Qadeer. As the time for obligatory prayer approached, a young Kashmiri stood for azan. The Dogra Governor, Ray Zada Tartilok Chand ordered soldiers to open fire at him. When he got martyred, another young man took his place and resumed the Azan from the verse it was broken following the martyrdom of first Kashmiri speaker of the Azan. He was also shot dead. In this way, 22 Kashmiris embraced martyrdom in their efforts to complete the azan. The people carried the dead and paraded through the streets of Srinagar, chanting slogans against Dogra brutalities. Complete strike was observed in the city which was followed by week-long mourning. This tragic incident shook the whole state and the traffic from Srinagar to Rawalpindi and Srinagar to Jammu came to halt from July 13 to 26, 1931. The 22 martyrs are buried in Martyrs’ Graveyard at Khawaja Bazar, Srinagar.

The atrocities against the Kashmiri Muslims did not stop even after the partition of the sub-continent. The human rights record of Indian government in the Indian-occupied Kashmir has been terrible and is characterized by arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and extrajudicial killings. Since 1989 when liberation of Kashmir entered a new phase, Indian military troops have been using all inhuman tactics of ethnic cleansing to disturb the majority population of the Kashmiris.