Avatar Posted by adilmoheen 282 days ago (1)
Category: Lifestyle | Tags: protests shutdown mark martyrdom annive
Srinagar, Feb 11: Protests, shutdown and rallies marked the 24th martyrdom anniversary of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Maqbool Bhat on Monday, paralysing normal life across the Valley.
Shops and commercial establishments in all districts of the Valley remained closed following a strike call given by various pro-freedom parties to mark Bhat’s execution
by Government of India in New Delhi’s infamous Tihar Jail on this day in 1984 on charges of bank robbery and killing of a CID inspector of J&K police.
Barring some private vehicles and three wheelers, traffic was off the roads. Government offices recorded thin attendance as employees could not make it due to the non-availability of transport.
Pro-freedom parties including JKLF and Democratic Liberation Party held rallies to mark the day. Police detained around 20 activists of both the parties.
The JKLF activists, led by Advocate Bashir Ahmad Bhat, marched through Maisuma, Budshah Chowk, and MA road here, demanding the return of the mortal remains of Maqbool Bhat. The activists carried a memorandum urging the United Nations to force the Government of India to return Bhat’s mortal remains.
The DLP rally was led by its chairman, Hashim Qureshi.
People of Kashmir have been clamouring for Bhat’s remains for his decent burial since the day he was hanged and buried in the jail premises. A grave has been kept reserved for his burial in Srinagar’s Martyrs graveyard at Eidgah.
Bhat was hanged on charges of murder and bank robbery, a claim strongly refuted by the people for whom he was the architect of Kashmir’s freedom struggle.
Bhat’s hanging is believed to be a watershed in the history of Kashmir as hundreds of youth took to arms afterwards to “fight India’s dominance in Kashmir.” His sacrifice, people believe, infused a “new sense of resolve and strength” in the Kashmiri nation to fight the Indian rule.
At Maisuma and Gawkadal, people clashed with policemen who retaliated with tear smoke shells. A large contingent of police and troops of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were deployed in the city, particularly in its civil lines areas, to pre-empt any public protest.
In Maqbool Bhat’s native village (Trehgam) in frontier Kupwara district, people observed complete strike, reports said. A team of Hurriyat Conference (M) led by its acting chairman, Maulana Abbas Ansari, visited Bhat’s family to express solidarity with them at a function organized on the occasion. According to a statement, the team included senior Hurriyat leaders, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Javed Ahmad Mir and Dr Ghulam Muhammad Hubi. “The best way to pay tribute to Maqbool Bhat is to get united and take his mission to its logical end,” they told the gathering.
Reports of strike have come from other districts of the Valley, including Islamabad, Shopian, Kulgam, Varmul, Budgam and Ganderbal.



GK REPORTER, HARMEET SINGH, REPORTS FROM JAMMU:
Leaders of Hurriyat Conference (M) handed over a memorandum of demands to the UN officials at the office of United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) after clashes with police on Monday, the martyrdom anniversary of JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat.
The Hurriyat activists led by Hurriyat (M) spokesman Shahid-ul-Islam, and Rafiq-ul-Haq, took out a protest march from the party office at Shahidi Chowk this morning with a view to presenting a memorandum seeking UN intervention in the return of the mortal remains of Maqbool Bhat for burial in the valley.
But the police deployed around the UN office beat up the activists with bamboo clubs and arrested several Hurriyat workers. The arrested Hurriyat leaders, Narinder Singh Khalsa, Vijay Abrol, Abdul Gani, Davinder Singh, Aman Ullah Khan, were detained at Sanik Colony, Gandhi Nagar and other police stations of the city.
Anticipating the rally, police had erected barricades at various places.
Senior leaders, Shahid-ul-Islam and Rafiq-ul-Haq, however, managed to reach the UN office, and hand over the memorandum to the UN officials.
Later in the evening, police ransacked the house of senior Hurriyat leader, Davinder Singh, at Bakshi Nagar and harassed his family. The detained activists had not been released till the reports last came in.
Discuss   Bury

Comments Who Voted Related Links