MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Thursday joined thousands of Kashmiris paying homage to Shaheed Maqbool Butt and other martyrs.

Regarded as the pioneer guerilla leader, Mr Butt, who was a staunch advocate of Kashmir’s complete independence, was hanged by the Indian government in New Delhi’s infamous Tihar prison on February 11, 1984.

Without directly mentioning him, the AJK government had declared his 37th martyrdom anniversary as “Yaum-i-Azm-i-Nau” to “pay tributes to the martyrs of Kashmir freedom movement and express solidarity with the struggling people of India held Kashmir.”

Pro-independence organisations organised rallies and public meetings in different parts of the liberated territory to commemorate the sacrifice of Mr Butt for the cause of his nation.

In Muzaffarabad, one public meeting was held at Upper Adda under the aegis of People’s National Alliance (PNA) while another was held on the press club premises under the banner of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

Asking both India and Pakistan to pave the way for the emergence of Kashmir as an independent state for durable peace in the region, they asserted that late Maqbool Butt had struggled throughout his life to translate this dream into reality and eventually faced the gallows.

In Kotli city, JKLF activists took out a rally during which they chanted slogans to eulogise the contribution of Mr Butt to the Kashmir cause. A good number of young participants wearing white t-shirts with portraits of the martyred leader presented salute to the late leader on the occasion.

A big public meeting was held in a playground in Rawalakot as well, to mark Mr Butt’s death anniversary.

Meanwhile, in a statement AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider also paid rich tributes to Mr Butt and other martyrs, such as Ashfaq Majeed Wani, Afzal Guru, Burhan Wani and Manan Wani, saying their contribution to the cause would eventually lead to India’s eviction from the sacred soil of Jammu and Kashmir.

“The struggle of Kashmiris is cogent and compelling, with its foundation having been laid on the ideology of Allama Iqbal, the great proponent of freedom and self esteem, and is thus bound to succeed,” he said.

Mr Haider expressed the hope that the world community would no longer turn a blind eye and a deaf ear towards the worst ever human rights violations being perpetrated by India’s fanatic BJP-RSS regime, particularly after laying military siege of the territory on Aug 5, 2019.

Separately, in a tweet, the AJK premier maintained that the UN charter vested a legitimate right in all oppressed nations to resort to any form of struggle to end their subjugation.

“From the 1st martyr of 1947 to Maqbool Butt to Afzal Guru to Burhan Wani, all Kashmiris have put up a heroic struggle against Indian occupation under the very right,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2021