Chairman Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Monday chaired a meeting to finalise the arrangements for the upcoming Hafta-e-Shahadat (martyrs’ week) starting from May 16.
The meeting which was held at the conglomerate’s headquarters in Rajbagh Srinagar also discussed at length the ongoing political situation in Kashmir.
“The meeting finalized the arrangements for Haft-e-Shahdat commencing from May 16 to commemorate the anniversaries of Shaheed-e-Millat Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq, Shaheed-e-Hurriyat Abdul Gani Lone, martyrs of Hawal and all the martyrs of movement,” a statement here said.
Paying rich tributes to all the martyrs of the movement, the participants stated that the people of Kashmir have offered and are offering huge sacrifices for the rightful cause of freedom.
“They said the sacrifices made by the Shaheed-e-Millat, the Shaheed-e-Hurriyat and others for the nation are written with golden letters in Kashmir’s history,” the statement said.”
Asserting that it was due to the sacrifices of Kashmiri people and their leadership that the movement was alive, the Hurriyat said that unless a solution to the Kashmir issue based on universal principle of self determination and in accordance with the aspirations of the people was achieved, stability in India, Pakistan and entire South Asia would elude the region.
“The participants stated that while the world community realizes the compelling reality of the Kashmir dispute, it is not actively involved in resolving it which is regrettable,” the statement said.
Denouncing the “aggressive military approach” adopted by the rulers in New Delhi and their local partners in Kashmir against the unarmed people of Kashmir, the participants stated that the state “is engaged in an asymmetric war against the civilian population killing them and causing huge destruction.”
Strongly condemning the use of “excessive force against people by the government forces” the participants said that Kashmir “is run by the writ and whim of the army, paramilitary forces and police.”
The participants appealed the international community and global human rights originations to come to the aid of the people and play their role in alleviating the sufferings of Kashmiris.
Meanwhile, the Hurriyat strongly condemned “the arrest of a student of Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), Awantipora along with his father.”
The Hurriyat said that stopping a bus of the university and noting down details of several students “is intimidation and sheer harassment of the student community, which is denounced.”