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| May 22, 2005 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1426 |
Strike in Kashmir to remember leaders
SRINAGAR, May 21: Shops, schools, banks and offices shut on Saturday in held Kashmir in a strike called in memory of the slayings of two separatist leaders that occurred on the same day a dozen years apart. “Sacrifices made by the people and leaders will not go in vain,” the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, a political group seeking Kashmir’s independence, said in a tribute to the dead men, Molvi Mohammed Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone.
There was scant traffic on the road in Srinagar, as shops, schools, businesses and other enterprises heeded the strike call. The strike was called by the moderate wing of Indian Kashmir’s separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and observed in the whole of Kashmir.
Lone was gunned down in 2002 — also on May 21 — at a ceremony for Farooq’s death at Martyr’s Graveyard in Srinagar where many separatist politicians, rebels and civilians who have died in insurgency-related violence are buried. Police were deployed in strength around Martyr’s Graveyard as thousands of people gathered later for a prayer ceremony shouting, “We want freedom” and “Allah is great”.
Speaking at the ceremony, Umar Farooq welcomed the peace talks between India and Pakistan. But he reiterated that “Kashmiris must be involved in the talks to find a solution”. Mr Farooq, who is also a popular separatist leader, said bilateral talks between India and Pakistan would yield no results and cried out the separatist slogan: “The Kashmir we have nourished with blood is ours”.
Meanwhile in fresh violence, guerillas ambushed an army patrol overnight, killing four soldiers and wounding four others in southern Rajouri district, police said.—AFP
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