In Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, All Parties Hurriyat Conference has paid rich tribute to prominent martyred Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Maulvi Muhammad Farooq and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone on their martyrdom anniversaries.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Mirwaiz Maulvi Muhammad Farooq was assassinated by unidentified gunmen at his residence in Srinagar on May 21, 1990.

On the same day, over 70 mourners were killed when Indian troops opened indiscriminate fire on his funeral procession in Hawal area of Srinagar.

Twelve years later, on May 21, 2002, unknown attackers shot dead Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone as he was returning after addressing a gathering at the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar.

APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, in a statement issued in Srinagar, said that Mirwaiz Maulvi Muhammad Farooq, Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone, and other martyrs of Kashmir are heroes of the Kashmiri people.

He said that Kashmiris, on the martyrdom anniversaries of these leaders, vow to accomplish their mission at all costs.

The APHC said that the assassination of these leaders was followed by the killing of many prominent scholars, intellectuals, human rights defenders, academics, and social workers.

The statement said that India, under a well-planned conspiracy, is eliminating pro-freedom leaders to render the ongoing Kashmir freedom movement leaderless.

Meanwhile, Indian authorities placed senior APHC leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest to prevent him from leading Fatiha Khwani at the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Eidgah, Srinagar.

According to Kashmir Media Service, strict restrictions were imposed to block access to Mazar-e-Shuhada Eidgah with heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces.

In Islamabad, the APHC-AJK and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Cell organized a commemoration event presided over by Convener Ghulam Muhammad Safi.

Speakers strongly condemned Indian human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and mass arrests in the occupied territory.