In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders and organizations continue to pay tributes to the victims of Gaw Kadal massacre on their 31st martyrdom anniversary, today.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat forum in a statement in Srinagar termed the indifference exhibited by the international community and human rights organizations over the numerous massacres including the massacre of Gaw Kadal witnessed in the territory against Kashmiris as distressing and unfortunate. It said, as a consequence of the unbridled powers bestowed upon the Indian troops under the draconian laws, more than one lakh Kashmiri civilians have been killed during massacres, enforced disappearances, civil protests, cordon and search operations and fake encounters. The forum said, none of the perpetrators has ever been brought to book or punished. “Indian forces’ personnel involved in the massacres were never brought to justice,” it added.
Senior Hurriyat leader, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, in a statement in Srinagar said, the living nations never forget their martyrs. He added that India should realize the fact that the use of brute force could not force the Kashmiri people to give up their struggle to secure their right to self-determination.
The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement, Mir Shahid Saleem, addressing a party meeting in Jammu on the anniversary of Gaw Kadal tragedy said that January was the inauspicious month of the year during which India committed at least five massacres. He deplored that hundreds of innocent Kashmiris were martyred but even after the passing of decades, no investigation was carried out into these brutal atrocities to punish the culprits. He urged the United Nations and international human rights organizations to address the grave human rights violations committed by India in the occupied territory.
Tehreek-e-Muzahamat Chairman Bilal Ahmed Sidiqui in an extraordinary meeting held to commemorate the 31st martyrdom anniversary of Gawkadal massacre reiterated their pledge to continue the liberation movement with full determination without any dismay that would be the best tribute to the Kashmiri martyrs. The meeting was attended by all members, ended with prayers for martyrs and Kashmiri political detainees.
Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Chairman Shabbir Ahmed Dar in a statement said that Gaw Kadal was the first among many deadly massacres carried out by Indian troops in Kashmir to keep the forced occupation intact.
Kashmir Tehreek-e-Khawateen Chairperson, Zamruda Habib, and General Secretary,
Kashmir Tehreek-e-Khawateen Chairperson, Zamruda Habib, and General Secretary, Shameem Shawl, in their statements paying rich tributes to the victims of Gaw Kadal, Handwara and Kupwara massacres said that the Kashmiri people were rendering unprecedented sacrifices for a sacred cause of securing their right to self-determination. They said that Indian troops were committing grave human rights abuses in IIOJK to suppress the Kashmiris’ freedom struggle but would never succeed in their nefarious designs. The KTK leaders urged the world human rights organizations to impress upon India to investigate all the incidents of mass killings and punish those involved in these heinous crimes. Hurriyat leaders Abdul Samad Inqalabi, Yasmeen Raja, Firdous Ahmad Shah, Jehangir Ghani Butt and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League (JKPL) leader Dr Sarfaraz Ahmad Khanin their statements also paid tributes to the victims.
The Jammu Kashmir Students Youth Forum through posters pasted on walls, pillars and poles in different areas of the occupied territory paid homage to the victims of Gaw Kadal massacre and asked the Muftis and Imams to make special prayers for all Kashmiri martyrs who sacrificed their precious lives for the freedom of their motherland.
The Tehreek-e-Wahdat-e-Islami, a constituent of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, said that the sacrifices of Kashmiris for liberation from illegal Indian occupation would not go vain. A spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Wahdat in a statement issued in Srinagar said that the hands of the so-called democratic country of India were stained with the blood of millions of innocent Kashmiris.
The Chairman of International Forum for Justice and Human Rights, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, in a statement issued in Srinagar said that at least 52 civilians were killed by the Indian troops on January 21, 1990 and that he won’t rest till the families of every single person killed would get justice.
A Kashmiri journalist in Srinagar said that Gawkadal massacre is one of the brutal massacres in the history of Kashmir. He said that 31 years ago it shocked the entire region and humanity gauging by scale of tyranny unleashed by the Indian troops against peaceful protesters.
