Qaisar Mansoor
Today is the first anniversary of the martyrdom of Syed Ali Gilani who waged a lifelong struggle for freedom from the Indian yoke. On September 1, 2021, he embraced martyrdom under Indian Police custody at his residence in Hyderpora, Srinagar. He is no more but his legacy remains alive and continues to inspire generations of Kashmiris who are struggling valiantly against the brutal oppression of the fascist BJP government.
Syed Ali Gilani was an indomitable freedom fighter who never bowed before the Indian bayonets. He was kept under continued house arrest for over a decade by Indian forces but they failed to break his spirit. Though frail of body and advanced in age, he proved himself stronger than over a million strong Indian occupation forces.
Ali Gilani was a man of strong will and courage and Indian forces feared him so much that after his death they forcibly took away his dead body for burial at Hyderpora graveyard under heavy military siege at dead of night. This sacrilegious act by Indian authorities was in violation of the last will of the veteran leader. Indian occupation troops apprehended that in case of a normal burial by his family and friends, the event would become a rallying point for the people and turn into a massive demonstration against Indian atrocities and attract world attention.
The life of Syed Ali Gilani was a saga of unremitting struggle and sacrifice for the freedom of Kashmir. He suffered unspeakable hardships for the sake of his people but never gave up. He spent several years in different Indian jails where he was subjected to extreme physical and mental torture but he never bowed down and remained defiant till his last breath.
Syed Ali Gilani’s contribution to the Kashmiris’ struggle for their right to self-determination is a glorious chapter in the history of the Kashmir freedom movement. He was a revolutionary and visionary leader who in his speeches
forewarned his people against the diabolical Indian designs to change the demography of Kashmir valley in favor of Hindus as in Jammu and then agree to a plebiscite in the territory. As foreseen by Syed Ali Gilani, this is what is happening in Kashmir under the Modi regime right now. Syed Ali Gilani drew his conclusion from the past events that had proved that Hindus would never accept Muslims as an entity in India and a majority population in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Syed Ali Gilani’s life is a beacon of light for the youth of Kashmir engaged in a life and death struggle against Indian dictatorship. There is a need to introduce the life struggle of Syed Ali Gilani to young generations to inspire and tell them that there is no question of compromise or surrender where the liberty of a nation is involved.
Gilani who was born on September 29 1929 is regarded as the father of the indigenous freedom movement in Kashmir. Prior to embarking on his formal political career, Gilani had joined the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) in 1952 to do welfare work from its platform. He soon rose to become district chief of the Kupwara and Baramulla districts.
Gilani initially struggled for his cause through mainstream politics but later on realized that the government of India had never been sincere in the resolution of the Kashmir issue. He was first arrested in 1962 on the charges of “raising the Kashmir issue”. Gilani spent more than twelve years of his life in jail,
He staunchly opposed the enactment of the Indian draconian law of Public Safety Act (PSA) and openly challenged the then Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah when he introduced the stringent Public Safety Act in the region. The act, termed unlawful by Amnesty International, was initially used against timber smugglers. However, it was later amended to suppress political voices. Under the law, anyone could be imprisoned for up to two years without trial.
Gilani played an active role in the formulation of the Muslim United Front (MUF) in 1987 ahead of provincial elections. Under his leadership, all Muslim parties joined a single platform – MUF – to oppose pro-India parties, including National Conference. However, due to massive rigging, only four candidates of who contested election from the MUF’s platform, including Gilani, managed to secure their seats. Gilani, along with three other winners, was promptly jailed by the Indian government.
This was the watershed moment, which marked the beginning of an indigenous armed resistance against “Indian unlawful occupation of IIOJK”. The National Conference-Congress political alliance formed a government, which was dissolved in the early 1990s as the armed rebellion gathered momentum. Large numbers of lawyers and activists were jailed, and political activity was banned. Gilani and his comrades resigned from the assembly in protest.
In 1992, the foundation of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference (APHC) was laid. It was a platform which brought together about 30 pro-freedom parties to take forward Kashmir’s fight for the right to self-determination. Gilani represented the JeI in the Hurriyat Conference
In August 2004, Gilani along with Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai launched Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (Movement of Freedom). Gilani’s was the most prominent face when Kashmiris held mass civil uprisings post-2008.
In 2009 he launched the “demilitarization movement” and in 2010, when three civilians were killed in a fake encounter along the LoC in the Machil area of Kupwara district by Indian forces, a mass uprising was triggered. Gilani was at the forefront.
In 2016 after the killing of the popular young freedom fighter Burhan Wani at the hands of Indian security forces, Gilani, along with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, organized protest demonstrations against the brutal action of Indian occupation Forces.
After the Indian government revoked Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution, scrapping the autonomy of the Muslim-majority region, Gilani openly condemned the action. On 5 August, 019, he was put under house arrest where he remained till his last moment. The Indian government denied proper burial of the great Kashmiri leader and was internationally condemned for this brutal and inhuman act.
Gilani authored 30 books including his autobiography ‘Wular Kinaray or On the Banks of Wular Lake’. Pakistan conferred Nishan-i-Pakistan on Syed Ali Gilani in recognition of his decades-old struggle for Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.
It is time the Indian government should “release all those detained on political or humanitarian grounds” to create a conducive environment for peace to prevail in the region.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has appealed to the people of IIOJK to massively march towards Hyderpora in Srinagar on September 1, 2022, to pay tribute to the icon of the Kashmir resistance movement, Syed Ali Gilani, on his first martyrdom anniversary. His first death anniversary is being observed when Indian forces are breaking all previous record of brutalities in IIOJK. Almost the entire leadership of APHC is in jail or under house arrest.
But Indian forces have miserably failed to extinguish the flame of freedom burning bright in the heart of every Kashmiri. Although India has imposed a strong censorship in occupied Kashmir it has not been able to banish the thought of freedom growing strong every day in the minds of Kashmiri people.
Simon McCarthy-Jones in his latest work “The Autonomous Mind: The Right to Freedom of Thought in the Twenty-First Century”, says that to lose freedom of thought is to lose our dignity and our very selves.
The western world claims to ensure Freedom of Thought, includes the right not to reveal one’s thoughts, not to be penalized for one’s thoughts, and not to have one’s thoughts manipulated. Unfortunately, when it comes to freedom for occupied Kashmiris, there is a deadly, manipulated, and criminal silence in western media.
It is time the Western world came out of its cocoon of hypocrisy and, in keeping with its oft repeated commitment to human rights and freedom of expression, supported the just struggle of Kashmiris for their right of self-determination.
In conclusion, one may add here that the human values of justice, peace and freedom are eternal values which no amount of political chicanery or media manipulation can obliterate. History testifies that nobody died who influenced human thought and whose life was dedicated to some cause and who sacrificed for freedom. Therefore, personalities like Syed Ali Gilani do not die. They disappear physically but their thoughts continue to reverberate through generations.
Syed Ali Glani is dead. Long live Syed Ali Gilani.
This specially applies to Kashmiris’ freedom movement.
Syed Ali Gilani is dead. Long live Syed Ali Gilani and his thoughts.
