Muzaffarabad: Chairman Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir Uzair Ahmed Ghazali has paid tribute to the martyrs of 13 July 1931 and said that these great martyrs of Islam lit the candle of resistance against Dogra Raj and then Indian imperialism in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued to media, he said that the soldiers of Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh had shot and martyred 22 Kashmiri citizens in Srinagar on July 13, 1931.
While describing the event, he said that these martyrs were civilians who had gathered outside Srinagar’s Central Jail on the occasion of the trial of a man named Abdul Qadeer Khan, who had called on the Kashmiri people to rise up against the Dogra imperialism for freedom.
He said that history is witness that on July 13, 1931, when a Kashmiri muslim started reciting the Azaan at the time of Zuhr prayer, the Maharaja’s soldiers shot him dead, “after that, another person stood up to complete the Azaan and he was also shot dead, Thus, 22 Kashmiris sacrificed their lives till the Azaan was completed” he added.
While paying homage to the martyrs of July 13, he said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir will never forget the martyrs of July 13, the millions of martyrs of November 6, 1947 and the sacrifices of thousands of 1989 refugees who left their homes and fought for Islam and freedom.
He said that the best way to pay homage to the martyrs is to collectively resist against the illegal Indian military occupation.
Ghazali appealed the religious leaders and pious to inform the public about the sufferings faced by Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir and the sacrifices of the martyrs of 13th July 1931 in their sermons.
He said that on July 13, programs will be organized to pay homage to the martyrs.
Uzair further said that the sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs will never be allowed to go in vain and resistance will be continued to achieve freedom against Indian illegal military rule.