ISLAMABAD: All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter leaders have paid rich tribute to the victims of Sialan massacre in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir on their 24th martyrdom anniversary.
The APHC-AJK leaders, Muhammad Hussain Khatib, Mahmood Akhtar Qureshi Advocate, Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar, Khawaja Naeemul Hassan and Muhammad Latif Lone in a joint statement issued in Islamabad said that on the intervening night of 3rd and 4th August 1998, nineteen members of the family of Shaheed Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh aka Major Gul were brutally killed by Indian troops in Sialan area of Sarankot in Poonch district in connivance with communal elements to avenge the death of one of their informers.
They said that the victims including men, women and children belonging to the families of Lassa Sheikh, Ahmad Din Sheikh and Hassan Muhammad.
The Hurriyat leaders said in view of the public pressure, a case was filed against the killer Indian Army in 1998, but despite the passage of 25 years, the biased Indian judicial system has failed to deliver justice to the victim families and the killer troops are roaming scot-free.
They condemned the Indian government’s August 5, 2019 move to repeal the special status of IIOJK to change the demography of the territory. They called for an immediate end to the killing of youth by Indian troops in fake encounters.
They said the 5th August will be marked as Black Day and Youm-e-Istehsaal-e-Kashmir on the call of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. They appealed to the international community to play an effective role in stopping the Indian state terrorism in IIOJK.
The APHC-AJK leaders expressed deep grief over the martyrdom of Pakistan Army General Sarfraz Ali and other Pakistan Army officers and crew members in the helicopter crash in Balochistan, the other day. Besides, they also showed deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives and financial losses due to recent rains in the country, especially in Baluchistan.
