MUZAFFARABAD: Police contingents presenting guard of honour and Kashmiri activists wearing mock burial shrouds bearing the names of the martyrs of July 13, 1931, created awe-inspiring scenes at two of the several events held here and elsewhere in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Monday to mark the Kashmir Martyrs Day.

As many as 22 Kashmiri Muslims were gunned down by the troops of the despotic Hindu Dogra ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir outside Central Jail in Srinagar, where a large gathering had assembled on the occasion of an in-camera trial of Abdul Qadeer, a resident of British India, on the charges of inciting people against the regime.

After its unwarranted action to revoke the special status of India held Jammu and Kashmir on Aug 5 last year, the BJP government had also discarded the ritual commemoration of Kashmir Martyrs Day in the occupied territory following which the AJK government had announced its observance in an extraordinary manner.

In Muzaffarabad, the main ceremony, where smartly turned out police contingents presented guard of honour to Kashmiri martyrs, was held on an open space in front of the entrance to the PM Secretariat, in keeping with the SOPs to contain Covid-19.

Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider was the chief guest on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Haider paid tributes to the July 13 martyrs for laying down their lives for the democratic rights of their oppressed nation and thus infusing motivation among their compatriots.

“The soil, the people and the government on this side of the divide are the trustees of the liberation movement. Today, while the so-called largest democracy ruled by the successor of Nazis has banned the observance of martyrs’ day in the territory under its occupation, it’s indeed an honour for us to pay homage to those martyrs in the base camp of the freedom struggle,” he said.

“History bears testament to the fact that no power can keep the Kashmiris enslaved for good at the strength of its military might.

“The tradition set by July 13 martyrs has been and is being religiously followed by the Kashmiris during the ongoing phase of struggle against Indian yoke. I bet India can never defeat such an exceptional, revolutionary and indomitable spirit,” he said.

Mr Haider maintained that Kashmiris had established a bond with the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who had always held them close to his heart.

“Now it’s the responsibility of the people, rulers, political leaders and intelligentsia in Pakistan to play their role in actualising Quaid’s promise to the Kashmiris,” he said.

Separately, an organisation of post-1990 migrants from occupied Kashmir also staged a rally from Burhan Wani Chowk to Garhipan Chowk to pay homage to the July 13 martyrs.

Earlier, they lined up in front of a giant wall of the district headquarters complex that has been decorated with the embossed images of Indian troops firing bullets and pellets and the unarmed Kashmiris retaliating with stones.

Of the participants, 22 were wearing mock burial shrouds bearing the names of 22 martyrs of July 13.

They also made prayer calls apart from raising pro-freedom slogans.

While condemning India for unleashing terror on the freedom seeking Kashmiris, the speakers, including PPP’s regional president Chaudhry Latif Akbar, Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi, Chaudhry Feroz Deen, Uzair Ahmed Ghazali and Mushtaqul Islam, lamented that the UN and other global organisations championing human rights had turned a blind eye towards the “volcanic situation” in India held Kashmir.

Reports from other areas said webinars and other events were held almost everywhere to voice support for the just struggle of Kashmiris across the divide.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2020