MIRPUR (AJK)-The Kashmir people paid glorious tributes to Burhan Muzaffar Wani Shaheed, the hero of Kashmir freedom, on his first martyrdom anniversary on Saturday.
They also renewed the pledge to continue the mission of the young martyr till the liberation of the motherland from the forced and unlawful Indian occupation.
In Azad Jammu & Kashmir, massive public rallies, demonstrations and special prayers for the shaheed Wani were held in all 10 district and tehsil headquarters including the capital city of Muzaffarabad to mark the first martyrdom anniversary of the freedom fighter.
In Mirpur, the major rally was taken out from district court premises. A large number of people including traders, political, social and human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, teachers, students and private and government servants attended the rally.
Addressing the rally, speakers including Raja Tariq Mahmood, Masood Rathore, Bashir Shagoo, DBA President Shabeer Sharif Advocate, President APHC Mirpur Malik Muhammad Aslam, Raja Habib Ullah Khan and others paid rich tributes to Burhan Wani for bringing the Kashmir freedom struggle in the occupied state to the decisive stage through giving the supreme sacrifice of his precious life.
They said that the best way to pay rich tributes to Wani is to follow in his footsteps till the struggle for freedom reaches its logical end. They said that ongoing indigenous struggle for freedom has reached at the point of no return in the Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir following the daily supreme sacrifices being made by the youth and children who are determined to get the motherland freed from Indian bondage.
India should read the writing on the wall and accept the reality about Kashmir's struggle for freedom, they demanded. The speakers said that Burhan Wani infused a new spirit into the Kashmir freedom movement by persuading the young generation of Jammu & Kashmir to take to the streets in nook and corner of the occupied valley to get the homeland freed from Indian occupation.
They said that the sacrifices will not be allowed to go in vain. They said that the mission of Shaheed Wani would be continued with full vigour till its accomplishment through the complete success of the freedom movement.
They called upon the international community including the United Nations to exercise their due role for getting the Indian brutalities stopped in occupied Jammu & Kashmir where the population was fighting for the liberation of the homeland for the last 70 years.
They underlined that since early peaceful solution to Kashmir issue was the key to the emergence of durable and everlasting peace not only in South Asia but the world over, it was enjoined upon the peace and human rights loving international community to move ahead for ensuring the early settlement of the issue. They demanded its solution through the grant of the legitimate right of self determination to the people of Jammu & Kashmir - as enshrined in the global commitment through the UN resolutions.
The 22-year-old martyr secured the distinction to infuse a new spirit and vigor into the Kashmiri youth to perpetuate the 70-year-old Kashmir freedom movement through persuading the Kashmiri youth for 'Jehad', they speakers said. He informed the world about the freedom struggle through the social media. He was gunned down by the Indian occupational forces in Bamdoora Kukernaag area of the occupied valley on July 8 last year in an alleged encounter with the Indian forces. India had announced Rs1 million head-money for Shaheed Wani.
India's forced and unlawful occupation of Jammu & Kashmir had never been welcomed by the people of Jammu & Kashmir, which is why waves after waves of freedom movement have been generated in the Indian occupied disputed Himalayan region. The face of the latest movement in the bleeding occupied valley was the martyred youngster called Burhan Muzaffar Wani.
Wani was seen as the main draw for many young and educated boys in South area of the occupied Kashmir turning into freedom fighters a few months before his martyrdom by the Indian occupational forces.
He is featured in videos and photos posing with weapons and taunting the Indian occupational security forces, which went viral on Facebook and WhatsApp in an attempt to recruit young Kashmiri generation in the freedom struggle.
Wani was stated to be an expert in using social media and delivering impressive speeches. He was from a well-off family in Tral in south occupied Kashmir, not far from the place of his martyrdom along with two of his comrades.
He had reportedly joined the Hizbul Mujahideen at the age of 15 after his brother was allegedly assaulted by the Indian troops in 2010. He had been described as a budding cricketer before he turned to the freedom struggle.
One of his brothers was martyred by the Indian Army in 2015 when he attempted to meet Burhan in the thick Tral forests of Tral. The valiant son of the soil - Burhan Wani - then became a big security threat for India and her occupational forces in the occupied valley as he built a large following among the Kashmiris.