MIRPUR (AJK), Aug 31 (APP): Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan while paying eulogizing tributes to veteran liberation leader and former chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Gilani, has said that the departed leader was an epoch-making personality who spearheaded the freedom movement against India with utmost courage and perseverance.
In his special statement, issued here on Wednesday, the AJK Prime Minister said that the political void created by the demise of the iconic leader (SAS Gilani) could never be filled easily.
“Gilani was the symbol of resistance against oppression,” the AJK PM said, adding that the proud legacy left behind by him would serve as a beacon light for future generations.
“Years’ long trials and tribulations could not deter him (Gilani) from pursuing the collective cause of freedom,” he said adding that the Babai Hurriyat (father of resistance movement) bravely faced every challenge that came in his way and stood as a rock in the face of Indian oppression.
“He devoted his whole life for the freedom movement of Kashmir and the rights of Kashmiris and remained stuck to his ideology till the last breath of his life,” he said, adding that he was imprisoned and detained for most of his life, but these trials and tribulations could not dampen his undying spirit and passion for the freedom of Kashmir.
Referring to the continued bloodshed and unending violence in the region, the AJK PM recalled that 147 Kashmiri youth were subjected to extra-judicial killing by the Indian army in 117 different incidents this year.
“Only in the month of August, 16 Kashmiris were killed in fake encounters”, the PM said, adding that three Kashmiri youths were killed in a fake encounter in South Kashmir’s Shopian district yesterday.
The AJK PM urged the United Nations and other human rights organizations should take effective notice of the matter and hold the Indian government accountable for the crimes its army has been committing in the held territory. He said that the Indian occupying forces have been given a free license to kill innocent Kashmiris.
“The United Nations, OIC and other influential world institutions should take notice of the ongoing brutality and barbarism in the Occupied Kashmir and play their role to resolve the lingering dispute that has been main cause and consequence of rights violations and bloodshed in the region”, the PM added.
