Srinagar, May 21 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, complete strike was observed today, to mark the martyrdom anniversaries of prominent Kashmiri liberation leaders, Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Farooq and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone.

Call for the strike was given by the All Parties Hurriyet Conference, climaxing the observance of Martyrdom Week. All government and semi government offices, educational institutions, banks and business establishments remained closed.

It was on this day in 1990 that Indian agents shot dead Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Farooq at his residence in Srinagar. Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone was similarly martyred on the same day in 2002, when he was returning after addressing a gathering organized at Eidgah in Srinagar to commemorate Mirwaiz’s martyrdom anniversary.

In Srinagar, a mammoth gathering was organized by the APHC at Mazar-e-Shuhada in Eidgah to eulogize the lifelong valuable contribution of the martyred leaders to Kashmiris’ cause. The people shouted pro-liberation and pro-Pakistan slogans on the occasion.

Besides the Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, other Hurriyet leaders, including, Professor Abdul Ghani Butt, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Ghani Lone, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Shaikh Abdul Aziz, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi, Fazl Haq Qureshi, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Yasmeen Raja and the Bar President, Nazir Ahmad Roonga were present on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq while paying glowing tributes to the unprecedented sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs to the cause of liberation said that the struggle against Indian rule in Kashmir would continue despite all odds. He maintained that periodical elections in Kashmir did not provide any answer to the basic dispute over Kashmir. Mirwaiz pointed out that the inclusion of Kashmiris in peace talks between India and Pakistan was imperative for resolving the Kashmir dispute.

The APHC-AJK Chapter also organized a function in Islamabad and the speakers paid rich tributes to the sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs. The function was addressed among others by the AJK President, Raja Zulqarnain, Sardar Abdul Qayoom Khan and Syed Yousaf Naseem.