Srinagar, Leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) have paid homage to Muhammad Afzal Guru and Muhammad Maqbool Butt, two prominent figures in the Kashmiri freedom movement, on the eve of their martyrdom anniversaries.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Muhammad Afzal Guru was executed in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013, under charges related to the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, which have been widely criticized as unfounded. Similarly, Muhammad Maqbool Butt, another key figure in the struggle for Kashmir’s liberation, was hanged in the same prison on February 11, 1984. Both leaders remain interred within the jail premises, a point of contention for their supporters and families.
APHC leaders, including Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, Syed Bashir Andrabi, Khawaja Firdous, Muhammad Yousuf Naqash, Javaid Ahmed Mir, Farida Bahenji, Umar, and Abdul Samad Inqilabi, emphasized the enduring legacy of Butt and Guru’s sacrifices, vowing that their deaths would not be in vain. They have called on India to release the remains of these martyrs to their families for proper burial, a gesture of basic human decency long denied.
The leaders reiterated the Kashmiri people’s determination to continue their pursuit of self-determination and highlighted the unresolved status of the Kashmir dispute as the root cause of ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. They appealed to the international community to intervene and facilitate a resolution in line with UN resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri population.
In a show of solidarity and remembrance, APHC-AJK leaders, including Syed Yousuf Naseem, Altaf Hussain Wani, Mushtaq Ahmed Butt, Muhammad Sultan Butt, Altaf Ahmed Butt, Zahid Safi, and Zahid Ashraf, also issued statements honoring the memory of Guru and Butt. Their sacrifices, they noted, have kept the Kashmir issue in the global spotlight.
To mark the anniversaries, a rally is scheduled for February 9 at Afzal Guru Chowk in Domel, Muzaffarabad, commemorating the contributions of Afzal Guru and Mohammad Maqbool Butt to the Kashmiri freedom movement.