21st January 1990; JRL leaders hold peaceful protest at Basant Bagh GawKadal

Srinagar: United India During its struggle for freedom from British occupation witnessed only one Jalianwala Bagh massacre but Kashmiris have witnessed dozens of such massacres carried out by Indian forces from 1990. 21st January is the day that changed the course of our 5000 year old history. This is the day when Kashmiris started a peaceful revolution for freedom and self determination, endured Indian bullets on their chests but refused to surrender before tyranny and illegal occupation. 

This was stated by the various speakers from Joint resistance leadership while addressing a gathering near memorial of martyrs at Basant Bagh today. This public rally was organized to commemorate the massacre of 21st January 1990 in which more than 50 people were martyred and hundreds injured when Indian forces and police opened fire on peaceful procession. 
The call for today’s protest program was given by the joint resistance leadership and besides leaders and activists from Joint resistance leadership including Muhammad Rafiq Shah Owais, Mushtaq Ajmal, Engineer Ghulam Rasool Dar Eidhi ,Advocate Yasir Dalal, Mukhtar Ahmad Sofi, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, Zahoor Ahmad Butt, Sahil Ahmad Waar, Syed Muhammad Shafi, Rameez Raja, Muhammad Sideeq Shah, Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, Imtiyaz Ahmad Shah, Ashraf bin Salam, Muhammad Hanif, Abdul Rashid Lone, Ishfaq Ahmad Khan, Sajad Ahmad participated in today’s protest program. 
Leaders from Hurriyat (JK) including Shabir Ahmad Dar and Imtiyaz Ahmad Reshi were also present on the occasion. Besides resistance leaders, people from different walks of life and followers of selfless martyrs participated in today’s’ program with enthusiasm and passion. 
This protest program was held despite unprecedented curfew, restrictions, barricades, spree of arrests and nocturnal raids by police and forces. it is worth to mention that to foil today’s peaceful protest, police not only clamped a tight curfew in almost whole Srinagar especially in and around GawKadal, but also placed JRL leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai under house arrest while as JRL leader and chairman JKLF Muhammad Yasin Malik was taken into custody and sent to Srinagar central jail on Friday 19th January. JRL leaders and activists including Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar, Bashir Ahmad Kashmiri (arrested last night), Bilal Ahmad Sideeqi, Hilal Ahmad War( arrested yesterday), Muhammad Ashraf Laya, , Ghulam Muhammad Dar, Umer Adil Dar and many others were also taken into custody and remain incarcerated till now .To foil today’s protest program police from last evening laid a tight siege around whole Lal Chowk and adjacent areas, erected barricades, imposed curfew and restrictions in and around Gawkadal, Nai Sadak, Basant Bagh, Maisuma, Budsahah Chowk, Burbarshah and other adjacent areas. 
Whole of Sher I Khas was also as usual placed under curfew. Even the martyrs’ memorial at Basant Bagh had been sealed off by razor wire and other barricades. Unprecedented Curfew and restrictions were such that no one including women, children and sick were allowed to move in or out the area but despite all these ruthless measures, leaders from the Joint resistance camp along with people from other walks of life managed to gather near the martyrs memorial at Basant Bagh and held a peaceful protest program. In their address joint resistance leaders said that 21st January was an important day of Kashmiri’s 5000 year old history. 
On this day thousands of unarmed people came out of their houses to demand freedom and right to self determination and protested against the crackdown of Indian forces. These peaceful people were showered with bullets by Indian forces and police killing more than fifty among them and injuring hundreds. 
Speakers said that in 1990, the then home minister of India and founder of today’s ruling party PDP Mufti Muhammad Saeed, deployed fascist governor Jag-Mohan in Jammu Kashmir with a purpose to kill and oppress Kashmiris and he soon after his arrival in Kashmir, started his criminal campaign from Gawkadal massacre repeated by massacres at Handwara, Kupwara, Sopore, Sailan Poonch, Zakura, bypass Batamaloo, Magarmal Bagh, Baderwah, Marmat Doda, and Bijebihara, Hazratbal, Gojwara, Mashali Mohalla, Khanyaar, Dalgate etc in coming days and years. 
Speakers said that the sole aim of India was to terrorize people of Kashmir through these brutal massacres and put an end on their march towards freedom but India failed in doing so and despite all these killings and oppressive measures, people of Jammu Kashmir continued their revolution and March towards freedom with passion and zeal and this march is till date continuing. Speakers said that united India during its freedom struggle against British witnessed only one Jalianwala Bagh massacre but Kashmiris have witnessed dozens of Jalianwalas carried out by Indians from last three decades. Oppressive tactics and brutal massacres have failed to stop Kashmiris march towards freedom in past and will fail to do so in future also, added speakers. 
Terming the martyrs as real heroes of the people of Jammu Kashmir, JRL leaders said so-called rulers at the behest of their masters in Delhi and Nagpur are not allowing any peaceful political activity in Kashmir but are shamelessly claiming to be democrats. These so-called rulers who have no courage to compete with resistance camp on political turf and who have choked every political space in Kashmir should feel some embarrassment to call themselves as democrats, said JRL leaders. Speakers said that as real heirs of the sacrifices rendered by great martyrs, we with one voice reiterate our pledge to take the mission of these sacred martyrs to its desired goal. 

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