KARACHI: A large number of people, including political leaders and workers, human rights activists, and members of civil society, marched from the Arts Council to the Karachi Press Club on Monday in a rally to mark the eighth death anniversary of Kashmiri youth leader Burhan Wani, who was killed by Indian forces in India-held Kashmir in 2016.

Organised by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference’s Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK), the rally attracted people from all walks of life, holding banners, placards, and flags of Pakistan and AJK.

Sindh Minister for labour and information Saeed Ghani, senior leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Aminul Haq, Karachi chapter president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Raja Azhar, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leader Muslim Pervez, and senior leaders of other parties attended the rally.

Addressing the participants at the Karachi Press Club, APHC-AJK leader Ghulam Muhammad Safi thanked every political and religious party in Karachi for responding to his call and turning out in large numbers to participate in the rally.

Other speakers at the rally vowed that they would not let the sacred blood of Kashmiri martyrs, including Burhan Wani, go in vain and pledged that the struggle against India’s unlawful occupation would continue at all costs. They stated that the evil designs of the occupied forces could not stop the people of occupied Kashmir from expressing their will against the Indian government.

Mr Safi of APHC-AJK said that Burhan Wani would always be remembered in the annals of Kashmir as a symbol of courage and resistance. He added that the young martyr imbued a new spirit in the resistance movement by sacrificing his life.

The AJK leader affirmed that the Kashmiri nation would continue the mission of Burhan Wani and other martyrs, stating: “The more you employ brute tactics to eliminate the leadership of freedom-seeking Kashmiris, the more our motherland will produce courageous and determined anti-India leaders.”

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2024