MIRPUR   -   Mammoth congregations on Saturday paid glorious tributes to the martyrs of Jammu & Kashmir state, including 22 valiant sons of the soil, for laying down the supreme sacrifices of their precious lives 93 years ago this day (July 13) in 1931 in front of Central Jail Srinagar, raising a mutiny by laying the foundation stone of the movement for liberation of the motherland from against the despotic Dogra Maharajah’s rule. Mediamen reported from Mirpur that the Jammu & Kashmir State people living at both sides of the Line of Control—Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir—besides the rest of the world observed the 94th Kashmir Martyrs Day on Saturday with the renewal of the pledge to continue the grand mission of the Kashmiri martyrs through continuing the freedom struggle, with full vigor, for the achievement of the birthright of self-determination and for the liberation of illegal-occupied Jammu & Kashmir from the tyrannical Indian rule.  Special prayer meetings and symposiums were the hallmark of Kashmir Martyrs Day across Azad Jammu & Kashmir, as well as at various places in the strife-torn Indian illegally occupied Kashmir state and the rest of the world to observe the day. It was on this day in 1931 when the Dogra troops shot dead at least 22 Kashmiris in front of the Central Jail Srinagar. A large number of people had gathered outside the jail protesting against the trial of a young man, Abdul Qadeer, for treason inside the prison located in the highly secure zone. In Azad Jammu Kashmir, it was the state holiday to facilitate the people to participate in the events of the day from all over the liberated territory. This year too, Kashmir Martyrs Day was flanked by a sign of a new hope, that if India agrees to the ground realities without any reservations and learns a lesson from the historical facts that she (New Delhi) cannot rule Kashmiris at gunpoint furthermore, may help bring a lasting peace and prosperity in the disputed region through the early peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue in line with the aspirations of the people of the entire internationally acknowledged Jammu & Kashmir state.

In Indian-illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir State, a complete shutterdown strike was observed against the forced and illegal Indian occupation of the bulk of  the Jammu and Kashmir State. People visited the graveyards of the Shuhada in occupied Srinagar and other places and offered fateha—besides holding special prayer meetings for the upholding of the status of the martyrs in heaven.  The people of Jammu and Kashmir from both sides of the LoC have attached great hopes for the early settlement of the much delayed Kashmir problem in line with the wishes of the people of Jammu & Kashmir through peaceful means by both India and Pakistan under the spirit of the international norms and commitments, especially through an internationally committed plebiscite under the United Nations resolutions. In the liberated territory of AJK, people from all walks of life held special prayer meetings besides staging rallies and seminars to pay rich tributes to Kashmiri martyrs to mark the day. Special Kashmir Martyrs Day prayer meetings and seminars were hosted at almost all the district and tehsil headquarters, including Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bagh, Rawalakot, Sudhanoti, Neelam Valley, Haveili, Hattiyan, and Bhimbher, and all other small and major towns and cities, under the spirit of various social, political, and religious Kashmiri outfits, besides the civil society belonging to all spheres of life, including the business community, lawyers, and media groups in various parts of the state.