RAWALPINDI, May 22: The All Jammu and Kashmir Youth Council on Wednesday held a demonstration in front of the UN office here to protest against the murder of All Parties Hurriet Conference (APHC) executive member Abdul Ghani Lone.
The demonstrators chanted anti-India slogans and displayed banners and placards to condemn the cold-blooded murder which, according to those who spoke on the occasion, was part of an Indian government’s conspiracy to weaken the efforts being made to bring peace to the occupied Kashmir.
The youth council’s chairman, Sardar Mumtaz Abbasi, in his speech maintained that the Indian forces in occupied Kashmir would never be able to suppress the Kashmiri freedom movement by means of manslaughter, violence and rape.
Raja Sati Mohammad, the president, urged upon the UN to take notice of the indiscriminate cross-border firing of Indian forces in which innocent citizens were dying.
They also presented a memorandum, asking UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to visit the Indian-held Kashmir and witness the plight of Muslims there. They also demanded implementation of the UN resolution of January 5, 1949, to save South Asia from a possible nuclear catastrophe.
OUR REPORTER ADDS: The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has termed the assassination of Mr Lone as an irreparable loss to the Kashmiri freedom movement.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, JKLF chairman Amanullah Khan said that Mr Lone was a man of courage, conviction and moderation.
He pointed out that Shiv Shina fanatics were inimical to him and some of them had manhandled him just a couple of months ago. His Srinagar residence had been fired upon a number of times in the past, he added.
The JKLF chief said that as an APHC co-founder, Mr Lone contributed a lot towards the freedom movement although, he added, the alliance could not make much headway due to internal dissensions.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf secretary-general Mairaj Mohammad Khan has also expressed grief over the murder.
He was talking to a citizens’ delegation which had called on him to discuss the civic and law and order problems of the city.
The PTI leader held the Indian intelligence agencies responsible for the murder.
Mr Khan appealed to the international community to prevent India from any adventurism, withdraw its troops from Pakistan borders, agree to the presence of UN observers along the line of control (LoC) and initiate a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan for a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue.