July 8 marked the first death anniversary of the an iconic figure of the Kashmir freedom movement, Burhan Wani who was martyred by government forces in the Kashmir Valley last year. Since then Kashmir has witnessed an unprecedented protest rallies and with it the record human rights violations by the forces.
As if the indiscriminate use of pellet guns – blinding thousands of innocent unarmed civilians – was not enough, the Army strapped an innocent Kashmiri citizen to an Army jeep and paraded him for many hours. The worst was that instead of condemning the act, the Indian Army Chief rewarded the Major with commendation card calling it an innovative act. This forced the Human Rights Watch Executive Director Keneth Roth to state that, Indian army chief shows criminal leadership, backing as ‘innovative’ troops’ use of Kashmiri man as a human shield.
Burhan Wanis anniversary, as was expected, was observed on a large scale in Kashmir but alas, not so fervently in Pakistan and got very less coverage in Pakistani media. It is duty of each Pakistani to pay tribute to the freedom fighters of Kashmir cause. They are being killed while carrying on Pakistani flags in the rallies and are also proudly buried in one.
Alas, present political leadership of Pakistan is showing criminal negligence by not supporting the Kashmir freedom movement whole heartedly. Their main focus is on internal politics which is also important but not more important than the Kashmir cause.
Kashmiris are playing their part by giving tremendous sacrifices and are demanding a durable, respectable and peaceful solution. Every nook and corner of Kashmir has been up in a revolt. Kashmiris are marching steadily towards their ultimate goal. But is Pakistan as a country doing its role?
I would urge the leadership of Pakistan to declare July 8 as Burhan Wani Day and show complete solidarity with Kashmiri brethren by arranging various seminars and talk shows on the day. This is least Pakistan can do for Kashmiri brethren.
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