MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir Digital): The 41st martyrdom anniversary of prominent Kashmiri leader, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, was observed today with devotion and respect on both sides of the Line of Control.
Rallies and seminars were organised in various cities of Azad Kashmir to honor his sacrifice for Kashmiris’ ongoing struggle for the right to self-determination.
Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged in Tihar Jail in New Delhi on February 11, 1984, is a metaphor for the freedom movement in the hearts of the Kashmiri people. His body was buried inside the jail, while his grave is present in the Martyrs’ Cemetery in Srinagar, which is empty and awaiting his body.
Bhat founded the National Liberation Front in 1965, currently known as Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, and began a resistance against the occupying forces when Indian government failed to fulfill its promise of self-determination to the Kashmiris.
Events organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) were held in Haveli Kahuta, Kahuta, and Khursheedabad, in which pro-freedom leaders participated. The biggest event was held in Khursheedabad where leaders from the Poonch division addressed the marchers.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leadership paid glowing tributes to the martyred prominent Hurriyat leader, Maqbool Butt, the Kashmir Media Service reported.
The APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Minhas said that jailed APHC leader, Maulvi Bashir Irfani, while paying tributes to Butt urged the need for the legal course to seek the shifting of mortal remains of martyred liberation leader from Tihar Jail to Mazar-e-Shuhada, Srinagar.
Rallies in Azad Kashmir
In Azad Kashmir, the Patriotic Alliance in Rawalakot staged a rally from the college ground to Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Chowk.
JKLF Chairman Sardar Sagheer Khan Advocate, while addressing the gathering, said that the philosophy of politics of the great leader Maqbool Butt Shaheed is a light for us, by following which we can not only achieve freedom but also a bright future, which will be the destiny of our generations.
The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front also organized a rally in Kotli district, which was taken out from Shaheed Chowk to Kalma.
The traders’ association, civil society, lawyers, journalists, and NGOs joined the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and Students’ Liberation Front in large numbers.
A program was organized on the occasion of Jhelum Valley to pay tribute to martyr Maqbool Bhat, where students, civil society, the journalist community, and lawyers participated. On the occasion, the world community was asked to put pressure on India and resolve the Kashmir issue according to the resolutions.
The event was also organised in Brussels, the European Union headquarters, by Kashmir Council Europe (KCEU) on the martyrdom anniversaries of Shaheed Maqbool Butt, emphasising that the sacrifices of these martyrs will never be forgotten, state-run APP reported.
The speakers of the event included KCEU’s Chair Ali Raza Syed, President World Kashmir Diaspora Alliance Chaudhry Khalid Joshi, prominent Kashmir figures Sardar Siddique and Raja Khalid, member of JKLF Europe Sardar Zaheer Zahid and noted social figure Shiraz Butt, Veteran European Journalist Andre Barcs and former member of Brussels parliament Dr. Manzoor Zahoor.
