5th martyrdom anniversary of Burhan Wani: AJK president says Wani role model for freedom fighters

MUZAFFARABAD: While describing Shaheed Burhan Wani as a role model for the freedom fighters across the globe, AJK President Sardar Masood Khan said that his valiant struggle for the liberation of Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and the martyrdom will continue to be a source of inspiration for the young minds.

In a special message on the fifth martyrdom anniversary of Kashmir’s most beloved freedom fighter, AJK president said Shaheed Wani would always be remembered on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) for his courageous struggle against the illegal Indian rule and the supreme sacrifice of his life for the noble cause of freedom and liberty.

Wani, a resident of Tral and commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen was martyred along with two associates by the Indian troops in a fake encounter in the Kokernag area on July 8 in 2016. His martyrdom had triggered a sustained wave of protests that claimed the lives of at least 100 civilians.

The AJK president, while paying tributes to Shaheed Wani, said that that the history of Kashmiris’ struggle will remain incomplete without the chapter of Burhan Wani because he is a hero and a glittering star of the liberation struggle, which has been continuing for the last seven decades. The state president said that the Shaheed Burhan Wani at his young age had devoted himself to the Kashmir liberation movement and had carried forward the liberation struggle with his valour, wisdom, and vision in a way that he had become the role model for the liberation movements across the world.

"Wani's martyrdom was certainly a loss of the freedom-loving people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, but his martyrdom would also continue to give a new impulsion to the movement for the right to self-determination of the oppressed Kashmiri nation. He said that it was India's misconception that it would suppress the just political struggle of the Kashmiri people for their legitimate right of self-determination by committing inhuman atrocities against the defenseless people.

Expressing his concern that the Indian aggression against unarmed Kashmiris had crossed all the limits, President Khan urged the United Nations to stop the state terrorism unleashed by Indian forces in the occupied territory. Saying that the liberation of Kashmir and a defeat of India is the writing on the wall, Sardar Masood Khan said Kashmiris are determined to continue their journey to freedom and self-determination despite all Indian oppression.

The AJK president also endorsed the call given All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to observe Martyrs' Week from July 6th to 13th, 2021, and urged people of AJK, Pakistan, and the diaspora community to organise seminars and other programmes to pay homage to martyrs who gave their lives for the liberation of Kashmir.