Srinagar: All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has called for a shutdown in Civil Lines and adjoining areas on January 21 to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of Gawkadal massacre.
In a statement, APHC leader Engineer Hilal Ahmad War said, “The mass massacre was carried out by occupational forces of India after the inception of politico-armed struggle for the ‘Right to Self-determination of the people of Indian Administered Kashmir”.
He added, “In this brutal and horrified massacre 52 innocent and unarmed civilians were killed in cold blood and 250 sustained serious bullet injuries inflicted by Indian troops on 21 January 1990.”
Engineer Hilal highlighted, ‘this massacre was a well thought-out plan of the then Home Ministry of India which was aimed at paving the way for Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus from Indian Administered Kashmir to malign the freedom struggle’.
This nefarious plan was executed and implemented by the then Governor Jagmohan. “This massacre was a politically motivated project which carried its connection with the sustained killings in the length and breadth of J&K, like Handwara, Zukura, Bijbehara, Khanyar, Hazratbal, Sopore etc.”
He added that the best way to pay the homage to the martyrs is to keep their mission alive. Kashmiris have always been victims of Indian barbarism as in 1947, India, under a well-conceived plan, martyred at least 300,000 innocent people with the help of extremist Hindus in Indian Administered Kashmir.
Gawkadal massacre was a big tragedy and this clearly made Kashmiris understand the greed and selfishness of those who have been collaborating with India to prolong its occupation. India had always been hell-bent on not only seizing the land of Kashmiris but also preparing the conducive environment for Hindutva by subverting religious and cultural values in Indian Administered Kashmir.
International Human Rights Organization should set up an Independent tribunal to probe Gawkadal and other such massacres so that the conspirators and perpetrators of heinous crimes could be unmasked and punished under international law.
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