SRINAGAR, Occupied Kashmir: The incarcerated leadership of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has solemnly paid their respects to the martyrs of the Jammu Massacre on the anniversary of their tragic sacrifice, reiterating their unwavering commitment to safeguarding the unique cultural identity of Kashmir.
Recalling the grim events of the first week of November 1947, when the forces of Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh, the Indian Army, and extremist groups like the Hindutva RSS and Jansang perpetrated mass atrocities, martyring hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris as they attempted to migrate to Pakistan, it is on November 6th that Kashmiris worldwide commemorate Jammu Martyrs’ Day.
From the confines of New Delhi’s infamous Tihar Jail, where they are being unlawfully detained, senior APHC leaders Shabbir Ahmad Shah and Nayeem Ahmed Khan conveyed separate messages. They described the 1947 Jammu Massacre as one of the darkest episodes in Kashmir’s history, a haunting memory that continues to affect the Kashmiri populace even after the passage of seventy-five years. Blaming Hindu chauvinists, with the support of the Dogra Maharaja and the Indian Army, for orchestrating the violence, their intent was nothing less than altering the demographic composition of the occupied region. This massacre is viewed as a stark example of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
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Shah and Khan also emphasized that the revocation of IIOJK’s special status by the authoritarian Indian government led by Narendra Modi in 2019 was part of a sinister plan to reduce the Muslim majority in the territory to a minority. They urged the international community to take cognizance of the ongoing brutality inflicted on innocent Kashmiris by Indian armed forces in IIOJK.
From Srinagar Central Jail, another incarcerated APHC leader, Bilal Ahmed Siddiqui, conveyed his heartfelt tributes to the martyrs of the Jammu Massacre. He disclosed that nearly 500,000 Muslim men, women, young, and old had been ruthlessly massacred in various districts of the Jammu region. This was part of a well-orchestrated and malicious agenda to cleanse Jammu of its Muslim population, thereby effecting a demographic transformation, with active support from the Indian rulers and state armed forces. This tragic episode stands as one of the most gruesome human massacres in history, casting a long and painful shadow over Kashmir’s past and present.
