MIRPUR (AJK): People across Azad Jammu and Kashmir as well as rest of the world will observe the 86th Kashmir Martyrs Day on Thursday (July 13) with the renewal of the pledge to continue their ongoing struggle for the achievement of their right to self determination and for the freedom of occupied Jammu and Kashmir from the Indian clutches, official sources said.

There will be state holiday in Azad Jammu Kashmir on this occasion. People living on both sides of the Line of Control observe this day every year to commemorate the supreme sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs they gave this day in 1931 when the Dogra troops shot dead 22 Kashmiris in front of the Central Jail in Srinagar. A large number of people had gathered outside the jail protesting against the trial of a young man – Abdul Qadeer.

Special meetings including seminars and symposiums will be held to pay rich tributes to Kashmiri martyrs to be followed by protest rallies and demonstrations against India for keeping Jammu and Kashmir state in her forcible and unlawful occupation since over last six decades, official sources said here on Wednesday.

In Mirpur, a special meeting to pay glorious tributes to the Kashmiri martyrs will be held on this occasion under the auspices of the National Events Organising Committee with the coordination of various political and social organisations. The programme to mark the day with full respect and honour is being given final touches, sources said.

Special Kashmir Martyrs Day public meetings will also be held in all major cities including Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bagh, Rawalakot, Sudhanoti, Bhimbher and Neelam Valley and all other small and major towns and cities. In these special functions speakers will pay rich tributes to the Kashmiris martyrs of 1931 who were gunned down by the then Dogra rulers outside the Central Jail in Srinagar for raising voice for the liberation of the motherland from the Dogra yoke.