Illegally detained All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman, Masarrat Aalam Butt, paying rich tributes to the Bijbehara martyrs on the eve of their martyrdom anniversary has reaffirmed the Kashmiris’ resolve to continue their struggle till realization of their inalienable right to self-determination. According to Kashmir Media Service, over 50 innocent Kashmiris were martyred in Bijbehara area of Islamabad district on October 22, 1993, when the personnel of Indian Border Security Force opened fire on the peaceful demonstrators, who were protesting against the Indian military siege of Srinagar’s Hazratbal shrine.

Masarrat Aalam Butt in a message from New Delhi’s infamous Tihar jail urged the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to forge greater unity in their ranks and continue their struggle for securing their UN-recognized right to self-determination. He condemned the grave human rights violations being perpetrated by Indian troops in IIOJK and iron-fist policy adopted by the Modi regime against the Kashmiris.

The APHC Chairman while paying homage to the martyrs of Bijbehara said the Kashmiris would never forget those who sacrificed their lives for the sacred cause of freedom. He reiterated his demand for an impartial inquiry into the Bijbehara carnage and all other such massacres and killings committed by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir. He maintained that innocent human lives would continue to be lost and uncertainty would persist in the region till the perpetrators of heinous crimes against the Kashmiris were not brought to justice and the Kashmir dispute was not resolved in line with the UN resolutions.

 Masarrat Alam Butt said that the Indian invasion of Kashmir in 1947 was the most dreadful incident of India’s colonial history that threw the region into throes of instability and perpetual violence. He said October 27 marks the beginning of Indian occupation of Kashmir and asked the people to observe it as Black Day. He urged the UN to take cognizance of the Indian state terrorism in IIOJK and initiate measures for resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)