Justice Shiraz Kiani passes away, leaving High Court with only one judge

 

Justice Muhammad Shiraz Kiani, senior most judge of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court, passed away in an Islamabad hospital on Monday morning of brain paralysis after more than a month long hospitalisation, leaving the court with only one judge against its sanctioned strength of nine. 

Born in August 1965 in Ratta village of Mirpur district, Justice Kiani had joined judicial services as a civil judge in October 1995 and was elevated to the bench of the High Court in September 2015 “on account of his lengthy and meritorious service in the subordinate Judiciary,” according to the court’s website. 

On March 19 this year, AJK president had appointed him as acting chief justice to assume the office after the retirement of his predecessor Justice Azhar Saleem Babar on March 22. 

He took the oath of office on March 24 in Kashmir House Islamabad, a day before he was hospitalized there for treatment in the wake of a multitude of medical conditions.

On Sunday night he suffered brain paralysis that took his life within 12 hours, according to family sources. 

Mr Kiani will be laid to rest in his ancestral town of Dadyal after the funeral prayer at 11am on Tuesday, they said.

His sudden death plunged not only the legal fraternity in gloom but also people from all walks of life as he enjoyed the reputation of a thorough professional without any slightest political leanings.

Social media was flooded with condolence messages from across the state as well as from the Kashmiri diaspora members. 

“From subordinate to superior judiciary, Justice Muhammad Shiraz Kiani remained a celebrated jurist with invaluable services for dispensation of justice to all and sundry. His untimely death is an irreparable loss in [the] true sense of words…” wrote AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Twitter.

 “Today is a very sad day for me and all of us. Justice Shiraz Kiani has left us. In March, he was sworn in as Acting Chief Justice of AJK High Court. A soft-spoken professional known for humility and justness left for his eternal abode...” tweeted AJK President Sardar Masood Khan. 

AJK SUPERIOR COURTS SHORT OF JUDGES

While Justice Kiani was unable to perform his functions due to illness, Justice Sadaqat Hussain Raja, the next senior judge, was appointed as acting CJ on April 17 till the former resumed his responsibilities.

It may be relevant to recall that since November 2019, the AJK High Court has seen removal of six judges due to flaws in the process of their appointment. 

On Nov 15, 2019, the then CJ M Tabassum Aftab Alvi was the first of the six judges to go and ever since the High Court is being run by an acting CJ, firstly by Justice Azhar Saleem Babar and late by Justice Kiani. 

After the demise of Justice Kiani, the AJK High Court has now been left with only one judge – acting CJ Sadaqat Hussain Raja - against its sanctioned strength of nine. 

On the other hand, the AJK Supreme Court is also working with only one judge – acting chief justice Raja Saeed Akram Khan – since December last year against its sanctioned strength of three. 

Under Article 42(4) of the AJK Constitution, AJK President appoints the Supreme Court CJ on the advice of the AJK Council chairman – Prime Minister of Pakistan - and under Article 43(2-A) the High Court CJ is appointed by the President on the advice of the AJK Council and after consultation with the apex court’s CJ.

Each of the other judges of both courts is appointed by the president on the advice of the chairman council after consultation with the chief justice(s). 

Due to the non-appointment of the permanent CJs, the process for the appointment of judges in both courts has been in limbo since long, triggering a serious judicial crisis in the territory. 

A number of submissions or ‘warnings’ in black and white, protest demonstrations and other peaceful measures by the AJK’s legal fraternity have failed to press the AJK Council chairman to appoint permanent CJs which subsequently has been obstructing the process for appointment against the vacant posts of judges. 

15th CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO RESOLVE CRISIS

It was in the wake of the very “inaction” on the part of the prime minister of Pakistan the AJK government was said to have decided to introduce 15^th constitutional amendment to reclaim the authority to appoint judges from the AJK council chairman.

“We will discuss and approve the 15th amendment bill in the cabinet meeting and table the same in the Legislative Assembly session on Tuesday,” a cabinet minister told this scribe on Monday evening, moments before the cabinet meeting in Kashmir House, with Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider in the chair. 

The minister, who did not want to be identified, claimed that the move was taken in consultation with the central government “for a specified period” to address the ongoing judicial crisis. 

A press release issued by Raja Muhammad Wasim, press secretary to Prime Minister Haider, after the meeting stated that the cabinet had consented to an “interim procedure to address the issues arising out of the judicial crisis by making appointment of permanent CJs and judges for a period of two months.” 

However, late night developments suggested that the exercise had been shelved following reservations either by the central government or the powers that be. 

Tariq Naqash

'Kashmiris asked to "categorically and unanimously" reject bilateral talks on Kashmir'

  

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has asked the Kashmiris to “categorically and unanimously” reject bilateral talks between Pakistan and India on the issue of Kashmir “because any exercise sans their involvement, as primary party to the dispute, will as usual end up in futility.” 

“It’s we who will decide the future of this state, including Gilgit-Baltistan (GB),” he said in his hard-hitting speech at a function held in Muzaffarabad on Thursday to mark the 33^rd death anniversary function of revered Kashmiri leader K H Khurshid, who had died in a road accident on March 11, 1988 while travelling in public transport to Lahore. 

K H Khurshid was just 20 years old when Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah anticipated his abilities during a visit to Srinagar in 1944 and chose him as his private secretary, a position he held till the death of the founder of Pakistan.

On May 1, 1959, Mr Khurshid was appointed by President Ayub Khan as AJK President, an office he accepted on the insistence of Fatima Jinnah who treated him as her son and had also financially supported him to earn the bar-at-law degree from UK’s prestigious Lincoln’s Inn.

In 1961, Mr Khurshid conducted the first ever (basic democracy) elections in AJK and also won the presidential election.

In the following year, he launched Jammu Kashmir Liberation League (JKLL) with the ideology of recognition of the AJK government as a ‘revolutionary provisional successor government’ of deposed Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir with a freehand to take the freedom movement to its logical end while launching JKLL.

However, the ideology was opposed by his narrow-minded power-hungry opponents through a constant smear campaign which made many in the power corridors of Pakistan believe that he was averse to Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan

Alluding to the very opposition of Mr Khurshid, Mr Haider read out the late leader’s quote regarding the role of the government in Muzaffarabad from a banner displayed at the venue of the death anniversary function and said: “What was his fault? He had not killed anyone. It was his ideology, which was misconstrued, unfortunately…” 

 “How could a person who was the private secretary to the founder of Pakistan and [later] chief polling agent of his sister for West Pakistan be against Pakistan,” he added in the same breath.  

Mr Haider who claimed during his speech that he had dedicated himself to “freedom of India occupied Kashmir and identity, integrity, honour and authority of AJK,” mocked claims by some “new historians” that the Mirs of Hunza and Nagar [in GB] had already acceded to Pakistan.

“History should not be distorted,” he said, and added: “Then how can you question the legitimacy of the alleged instrument of accession attributed to the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir who was the constitutional head of the erstwhile princely state while these (Mirs) were just fiefs under him.”  

The AJK premier went on to warn that conversion of GB into a province of Pakistan would be a direct and indirect endorsement of India’s Aug 5, 2019 move. 

Terming the forthcoming AJK polls as crucial, he asked people to mindfully cast their vote in favour of the party that could protect AJK’s identity and status. 

Claiming that he had snubbed a suggestion to remove the word ‘Azad’ from AJK, he reiterated that as long as AJK remained in existence, no one would dare wind up Kashmir issue without its settlement.

He said some AJK leaders had emerged with calls for grant of provincial status to AJK in the name of its development. 

“Go and ask Balochistan as to how much development was done there after it was made a province. Soon, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan will also wake up to reality… Development will continue to take place, but what matters more is your political freedom and authority,” he said.   

Stating that the Joe Biden administration was more dangerous for Pakistan than that of its predecessor because Indians enjoyed more influence over the Democrats, the AJK premier urged the government of Pakistan “not to fall prey to the American conspiracy out of weakness.”

“Pakistan should stay firm on its stand on Kashmir, particularly after India’s Aug 5 move. Don’t be afraid. No one is going to do you any harm except political instability and economic downturn,” he said.

Underlining the need for political harmony in Pakistan, he said: “No single party can bring this country out of the crisis; each one will have to put its share in this regard.” 

He pointed out that there was no ideological divide among the Kashmiris on the other side of the divide but in AJK people would come up with different slogans. 

“This is India’s plot to divide us ideologically. The right to self-determination should be our common demand and in order to achieve this right, you will have to ensure a special status of Azad Kashmir and present a Kashmiri face before the world community. Unless that happens, there cannot be any way forward.”

“Yes if you want to wind up this issue then it’s another thing. But whosoever will deceive the Kashmiris will invite the wrath of the Allah Almighty.” 

Referring to a statement by an opposition PTI AJK chapter leader, he said they were not speaking about the real issues for fear of anger of their masters. 

“Why don’t they speak against bilateral talks or conversion of Gilgit-Baltistan into a province? Why don’t they speak for the distinctiveness of Azad Kashmir as well as preservation of the 13^thconstitutional amendment that empowered the government in Muzaffarabad?”

 Apart from Mr Haider, JKLL president Manzoor Qadir advocate, Jamaat-i-Islami leader Shaikh Aqeelur Rehman and others also spoke on the occasion.  

Earlier, Mr Haider and others offered fateha khawani at the grave of Mr Khurshid and also showered rose petals on it. 

Tariq Naqash

 

Sikandar Hayat rejoins MC, asks others to follow his move

Veteran Kashmiri leader Sardar Sikandar Hayat on Friday rejoined his previous Muslim Conference (MC) party after ending his fluid association with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) after more than a decade.

Hayat announced his decision at his Nakyal residence in district Kotli in the presence of an MC delegation led by former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) premier Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan.

On this occasion, he was accompanied by his younger brother and PML-N divisional president Sardar Naeem Khan and a local PML-N office bearer but not by his son Sardar Farooq Sikandar, a minister in Raja Farooq Haider led government. 

Hayat, who was twice elected as AJK prime minister and once as AJK president for full terms at the head of MC governments, was among the pioneers of the PML-N in AJK. 

According to PML-N sources, he had made several requests to Nawaz Sharif personally and through Raja Zafarul Haq for the party's launch in AJK. In 2016, he was appointed as PML-N’s central vice president against the AJK quota. However, for the past three years he had been intermittently going public with his reservations about the party and its government, alleging that PM Haider was not consulting him in any matter.

After the change of government in Pakistan, Hayat had also made an allegedly harsh comment about Sharif in addition to calling on Prime Minister Imran Khan along with PTI regional president Barrister Sultan Mahmood, following which his name was taken off from the party’s website. 

Given his mercurial temperament, political pundits were predicting for quite some time that he would hardly continue his association with the PML-N and would instead switch over to either the PTI or his previous party.

On Friday he brought the speculations to an end at a meeting with the MC delegation.  

“If slavery [of Pakistani political parties] is right then what was the point to oppose Maharaja Hari Singh who was a far better administrator,” Hayat remarked on the occasion, referring to the last dynast of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. 

He urged the AJK people to join MC for "it had been working with missionary zeal for the identity and integrity of Kashmiris."

While repeatedly urging local reporters present on the occasion not to pose any questions, Sardar Attique announced that Hayat would “patronize” the MC as its supreme head - a position he said had been lying vacant since the death of his father Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan. 

Later, on being asked by some reporters, Sardar Naeem maintained that they were unable to hold consultation with Farooq Sikandar on this decision due to his official engagements in Muzaffarabad “but would take him on board soon.”

A source close to PM Haider however claimed that Farooq Sikandar had disassociated himself from his father’s decision. 

“He has told the prime minister that he will not quit the party,” said the source of Hayat's elder son who had switched off his cellular phone since afternoon.

Though some PML-N leaders tried to downplay Hayat’s decision in their social media posts by saying that it would not make any difference to the party, senior minister Chaudhry Tariq Farooq had however a different view. 

“He (Hayat) is one of the leading figures of the state, both politically and socially, and his departure will definitely affect the party,” he said.

"We tried our best to remove his reservations but to no avail," he added, while talking to this scribe. 

Responding to a query by this scribe, Sardar Attique maintained that since Hayat's efforts were central to the establishment and subsequent progression of the PML-N in AJK, his exit was bound to cause a detrimental effect on the ruling party's support base. 

"The politics in our region revolves around personalities and it remains a fact that Sardar Sikandar Hayat had been the most towering personality in PML-N... His return to his ancestral party will give a clear direction to the disorientated workers at a time when breakage is quite visible," he said.

"I am sure his inclusion will work wonders for the MC in general elections." 

Tariq Naqash 

Woman's death spotlights miseries of Leepa valley people

 A 60 years old woman died after she and a kin were trapped in a snow capped road towards the Leepa valley of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, marking the first snow-related death of the ongoing harsh season in the area, official sources and residents said on Tuesday.  

Noor Jehan and her son-in-law were trudging through a snowy track between Reshian to Moji village of Leepa valley on Monday afternoon, when a huge mass of snow fell over them near a place known as Mian Wala Matha.

According to official sources and residents, even though both managed to remove snow from them after hectic efforts, the lady however did not survive in subzero temperature, with her helpless son-in-law waiting in vain for help throughout the frosty night.   

Early morning, people from the deceased lady’s Chanoola village and adjoining hamlets trekked through the snow and removed the body from there. 

They reached back home - at a distance of hardly five kilometres - at about 2:30pm following which the funerals were held. 

Among the mourners was Shaukat Javed Mir, a key leader of the opposition People's Party who has long been campaigning under the banner of a local alliance of all parties for construction of 3.79 kms long Leepa Tunnel to save the lives of tens of hundreds of the residents of the picturesque valley, located some 100 kilometres southeast of Muzaffarabad.

Reshian village lies some 25-30 kilometres before it. 

From beyond Reshian, the valley is accessed by two dangerously narrow roads, known by the names of Birthwar Galli and Sher Galli, and one pedestrian track, known as Panjal Galli, which run through an altitude of around 10,000 feet.

“Every year we lose our near and dear ones to avalanches as they trudge through the snow capped routes linking our valley to the rest of the world at the peril of their lives, but ironically our desperate calls to build us the tunnel cut no ice with the authorities,” PPP leader Mir said. 

Also on Monday afternoon, another group of 23 persons, including women, was left stranded in the middle of their journey by jeeps via 10,000 feet high Barthwar Galli due to heavy snowfall.

They were able to reach their homes by 9pm only after the army personnel and locals came to their rescue, sources said. 

Mir recalled several names who, he said, had lost their lives during this arduous journey in the past.

“It is why we have long been stressing upon the governments in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad that the 
tunnel between Reshian and Leepa should be built at all costs,” he said, expressing the hope that Prime Minister Imran Khan would “sympathetically and generously allocate funds for this vitally important project without further ado.”     

Tariq Naqash 

 

 

 

Pakistan's mainstream media arraigned for "little" coverage of Kashmir

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has regretted that Pakistan’s mainstream media is giving “negligible” coverage to Kashmir issue because "it does not bring them any monetary benefits." 

He made this comment amid criticism of the private electronic media of Pakistan for not airing stories on time on death and destruction caused by Indian shelling in Neelum valley and other AJK areas along the Line of Control (LoC).  

“The media does not have any financial interests in this territory. They look at our blood with the prism of business, which is unfortunate,” Haider remarked in his speech at the swearing in of the TV Journalists Association on Monday, making it clear that his criticism was directed at the owners and policy makers and not the correspondents. 

However, he also acknowledged that the media in Pakistan was facing censorship.

“The censorship that the media is facing today has no precedence in the past except during the last days of Pervez Musharraf and prior to him during the rule of Gen Ayub Khan.” 

Haider said he wanted to strengthen AJK TV for an extensive coverage of the struggle and sacrifices of the Kashmiris as well as the unprecedented brutalities by India’s occupation machinery. 

He said he had also been calling for up-gradation of the state run radio stations in AJK to boost the morale of struggling Kashmiris and effectively counter Indian propaganda. 

Referring to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) elections, he said it was surprising that a “four months old newborn party” had emerged as the largest party there. 

“But I want to warn all concerned that the replication of what has been done in Gilgit [Baltistan] will not be allowed here [AJK]. This drama is not possible here, and its consequences will be very dangerous,” he said. 

Terming the campaigning by the leaders of different mainstream political parties in GB as “rumbustiousness” he said he was averse to their intervention.

“Is it [GB] a booty that you had to divide among yourselves? Or is it a conquered land or crown land or a pasture,” he said and added: “I tell you honestly that neither any service has been done to the GB people nor to Pakistan or Kashmir, and very soon the GB people will also realize it.” 

Haider regretted that the GB people had “disassociated themselves from Kashmir which in turn had dealt a blow to the Kashmir freedom struggle.” 

“Who says GB is not part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This step [conversion of GB into province] has also disrespected the judgments of superior courts of AJK and Pakistan.” 

“Since a part of my body has been detached, I am hurt and therefore I cannot help but express my feelings. But the time will itself decide whether this decision will go in favour of or against Pakistan.”

In the same breath, he reiterated his earlier statement that as long as AJK remained in existence, neither India nor Pakistan could swipe the Kashmir issue under the carpet. 

“This [AJK] will continue to prick them… We have sworn allegiance to the state of Pakistan and not any political party.” 

Haider said he believed that Pakistan would not get anything from the Security Council as far as the Kashmir issue was concerned. 

“In fact we have lowered our status so much that nobody gives us a damn. We can however get something from those who work on human rights and we should reach out to them with evidence of flagrant human rights violations by Indian government.” 

Towards the end of his speech, he also took a jibe at the AJK judiciary while asking journalists to ensure the version of both parties in their stories. 

“They give stay orders without ascertaining our viewpoint… But journalists should not file stories without obtaining the views of the other side.” 

Tariq Naqash

 

 

AJK PM for expansion of tax net and facilitation of taxpayers

 Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has directed the region’s tax authorities to broaden the tax net and modernise the tax collection system in order to enhance territory’s revenue receipts. 

“Latest techniques should be employed in surveys to expand tax base and the department should innovate its collection system to make it easier for the existing and prospective taxpayers,” he said at meeting he chaired to review issues related to the AJK council as well as the performance and problems of the AJK Inland Revenue Department.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Law and Inland Revenue Sardar Farooq Ahmed Tahir, Minister for Health and Finance Dr Najeeb Naqi, chief secretary Shahzad Khan Bangash, additional chief secretary (general) Farhat Ali Mir, secretary finance Asmatullah Shah, secretary services Dr Liaquat Hussain Chaudhry and other officials concerned. 

It may be recalled that the AJK Inland Revenue Department was under the administrative control of the AJK Council until June 2013 when it stood transferred to the AJK government after passage of 13^thconstitutional amendment. 

Earlier, the council would retain 20pc of income tax collected from the AJK territory for its “administrative expenditures” etc. and transfer the remaining 80pc to the AJK government in irregular installments, sometimes even after the end of the fiscal year.

This, according to the AJK government sources, would worsen their fiscal woes, forcing the government to obtain overdraft from the State Bank of Pakistan to make day-to-day expenditures and pay salaries. 

The meeting was told that in 2017-18, the council had provided hardly Rs 10 billion to the AJK government [as its 80pc share] in income tax. However, after the AJK government took over the department, the income tax collection swelled to Rs 16.7 billion in 2018-19 and Rs 17.1billion in 2019-20. 

In 2020-21, department expected to generate as much as Rs 20 billion from income tax, alone. 

“This difference in income shows that around Rs 5 to 6 billion would be siphoned off from the income during the period when this department was administratively controlled by the council. We will try to dig out as to where this much amount would go,” the prime minister said.  

He maintained that the 13th amendment in the AJK Constitution had restored AJK’s administrative and fiscal powers after 44 long years and subsequently vitalized its dealings and relations with Pakistan. 

He appreciated that over the past four years his government had done away with the common practice of obtaining overdraft from the State Bank and had instead acquired financial autonomy. 

“I have left no stone unturned in establishing clean and efficient administration and it’s because of our commitment that not a single [financial] scandal came to fore over the past four years.”

According to him, increase in income had ushered AJK in an era of development and progress, benefits of which were being reaped by the common man. 

He also called for reduction in non-development expenditures so as to ensure savings to put share in AJK’s development activities, entire budget for which is currently provided by the federal government. 

As the meeting was told that the AJK council secretariat [in Islamabad] had not yet provided tax inquiries and record of development projects to the AJK government, the prime minister directed the chief secretary to convene a meeting to settle this issue. 

The meeting was also informed that only 25 employees in the AJK council secretariat were State Subject holders while the remaining 150 were non-Kashmiris who had however been given protection under the 13^thamendment. 

Tariq Naqash 

 

Guard of Honour to July 13, 1931 martyrs given in Muzaffarabad

Police contingents presenting guard of honour and Kashmiri activists wearing mock burial shrouds bearing the names of the martyrs of July 13, 1931 created awe-inspiring scenes at two of the several events held in the state capital and elsewhere in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Monday to mark Kashmir Martyrs Day. 

As many as 22 Kashmiri Muslims were gunned down by the troops of the despotic Hindu Dogra ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir outside Central Jail in Srinagar, where a large gathering had assembled on the occasion of an in-camera trial of Abdul Qadeer, a resident of British India, on the charges of inciting people against the regime.

After its unwarranted action to revoke special status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir on Aug 5 last year, the BJP government had, among other repressive measures, discarded the ritual commemoration of Kashmir Martyrs Day even by the pro-India parties in the occupied territory, following which the AJK government had announced its observance in an extraordinary manner. 

In state capital Muzaffarabad, the main ceremony, where smartly turned out police contingents presented guard of honour to Kashmiri martyrs -for the first time in the territory's history - was held on an open space in front of the entrance of PM Secretariat, in keeping with the SOPs to contain Covid-19. 

Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider was the chief guest on the occasion. 

Banners and hoardings had been displayed at the venue, bearing not only the names of the 22 martyrs but also quotations on the Kashmiris’ heroic struggle for emancipation. 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Haider paid rich tributes to the July 13 martyrs for laying down their lives for the democratic rights of their oppressed nation and thus infusing motivation among their compatriots. 

 “The soil, the people and the government on this side of the divide are the trustees of the liberation movement. Today, while the so-called largest democracy ruled by the successor of Nazis has banned the observance of martyrs’ day in the territory under its occupation, it’s indeed an honour for us to pay homage to those martyrs in the base camp of the freedom struggle,” the AJK premier said. 

He recalled that none of the 22 martyrs of July 13 had sustained bullets on his back but on their chests, which “spoke volumes about the fearlessness and bravery of Kashmiris.” 

“History bears testament to the fact that no power can keep the Kashmiris enslaved for good at the strength of its military might. The tradition set by July 13 martyrs has been and is being religiously followed by the Kashmiris during the ongoing phase of struggle against Indian yoke,”

“I bet India can never defeat such an exceptional, revolutionary and indomitable spirit,” he said.  

Mr Haider maintained that Kashmiris had established a bond with the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who had always held them close to his heart. 

 “Now it’s the responsibility of the people, rulers, political leaders and intelligentsia in Pakistan to play their role in actualizing Quaid’s promise to the Kashmiris,” he said. 

The AJK premier said he was pleased to note that there was complete consensus of the people, political parties and government [in Pakistan] on the issue of Kashmir. 

“But we need to fully comprehend the fascist Indian government’s nefarious designs… After a humiliating defeat from China, Narendra Modi is finding excuses to launch an aggression on our side of the divide,” he warned. 

“Let me make it clear to Mr Modi from the soil of Muzaffarabad that the people and the government of the liberated territory [of Kashmir] are fully prepared to take Indian troops head on, shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces of Pakistan,” he vowed. 

Mr Haider also assured the armed forces of Pakistan that every single person in AJK stood behind them “to make mincemeat of Indian army.”  

“I also assure Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik, Syed Shabbir Shah and other pro-freedom leadership in occupied Kashmir that we all will never leave you alone in this common struggle against Indian occupation.” 

On this occasion, Mr Haider called upon the people of occupied Jammu and Ladakh to drive out those elements who had been hankering to bring about demographic change in the disputed region.

“Or else the nation will never forgive you,” he said.  

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Sahibzada Salim Chishti, chairman AJK Zakat Council, led special supplications to the Almighty for the deliverance of the martyrs and early success of the freedom struggle. 

Separately, an organization of post-1990 migrants from occupied Kashmir also staged a rally from Burhan Wani Chowk to Garhipan Chowk to pay homage to the July 13 martyrs. 

Earlier, they lined up in front of a giant wall of the district headquarters complex that has been decorated with the embossed images of Indian troops firing bullets and pellets and the unarmed Kashmiris retaliating with stones.

Of the participants, 22 were wearing mock burial shrouds bearing the names of 22 martyrs.  They also made prayer calls, apart from raising pro-freedom slogans at full volume. 

While condemning India for unleashing terror on the freedom seeking Kashmiris, the speakers, who includ

ed PPP’s regional president Chaudhry Latif Akbar, Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi, Chaudhry Feroz Deen, Uzair Ahmed Ghazali and Mushtaqul Islam, lamented that the UN and other global organizations championing human rights had turned a blind eye towards the “volcanic situation” in India occupied Kashmir.

Reports from other areas said webinars and other events were held almost everywhere to voice support for the just struggle of Kashmiris across the divide. 

Tariq Naqash