Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and other Hurriyat leaders and organizations have paid rich tributes to the martyrs of Chotta Bazaar, Srinagar.
It was on June 11, 1991, when the Indian paramilitary CRPF troops went berserk, and opened indiscriminate firing with their automatic weapons all the way from their camp at Syed Mansoor to the densely populated downtown area of Srinagar of Chotta Bazaar killing 32 innocent civilians and critically injuring 22 others. The bullets hit shopkeepers, passerby, a 75-year old woman and a child of ten years age.
The APHC spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar, while referring to the bloodstained history of Kashmir, said that the Indian fascist rulers should learn a lesson from their own freedom history which has witnessed a single Jalian Wala Bagh incident where the freedom movement of Kashmir carries in its lap scores of such incidents of bloodshed at the hands of Indian forces.
The spokesman, memorizing the gallantry ventures of the freedom-loving people of Kashmir, saluted their valour and said that no power on earth can imagine to defeat the Kashmiris’ resistance movement.
He appealed the Kashmiri people and the Kashmir diaspora to organise special prayer meetings for the martyrs of Chotta Bazaar and pay rich tributes to their precious sacrifices to which we all are indebted.
The spokesman urged the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres to take serious cognizance of the genocide of the innocent people of Kashmir who are demanding their inalienable right to self-determination and stop mass killings and gross violations of human rights in Kashmir at the hands of Indian forces.
The Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Chairman, Shabbir Ahmed Dar in his statement in Srinagar, paying glowing tributes to the Chotta Bazaar martyrs, said that several inquiries were held but nobody was held accountable though the killers were identified.
After 30 years the people remember these great sons of soil with respect and honour and reiterate the pledge that their sacrifices will not be forgotten and the mission will be taken to its logical conclusion, he added.
APHC leader and the Chairperson of Muslim Khawateen Markaz, Yasmeen Raja, in a statement in Srinagar paid homage to the martyrs of Chota Bazaar
. She said that the Kashmiris were rendering their lives for securing freedom from Indian occupation. She deplored that Indian troops were carrying out the killing of innocent Kashmiris under a well thought out plan and subjecting them to the worst atrocities.
Yasmeen Raja strongly condemned the continued illegal detention of Hurriyat leaders. She also expressed grave concern over the recent wave of arrests, raids on the homes of Hurriyat leaders and activists, harassment of their families. She said that the Kashmiris would continue their freedom struggle till it reached its logical end.
The Jammu and Kashmir National Front spokesman, Shafiq-ur-Rehman in a statement issued in Srinagar remembering the Chotta Bazaar martyrs said that the dreadful massacre would continue to bruise the hearts of minds of the Kashmiri who were being killed day in and day out by the Indian forces.
He deplored that a number of massacres had taken place but not a single army officer or even a low-rank soldier was held accountable.
“The lack of accountability and impunity enjoyed by the Indian forces under black laws is the main cause of continued bloodshed and violence in the territory”, he added.—KMS
