_( Sept 29, 1929 —- Sept 01, 2021)_
“ہم پاکستانی ہیں؛پاکستان ہمارا ہے” Syed Ali Shah Gillani, a veteran leader of the Kashmiri separatist movements, passed away on September 1, 2021. On this day two years ago, Syed Ali Shah Gillani, a former leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), passed away. After that Gillani’s death, Indian authorities strengthened surveillance in Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. The Indian Police rushed to his home afterwards to retrieve his body, depriving his family of the chance to say goodbye for the last time.Gillani had already announced a desire to recuperate in Srinagar’s Martyrs’ Graveyard. However, Indian authorities were cognizant of the fact a procession of his followers would be marching next to the body for his burial. As it turned out, they promptly buried him in the dimness of midnight with just a few close relatives.At the time, Indian police administrators hoped to avert a spectacle, but their conduct in the early hours of September 1, 2021, accomplished what they intended. Illegally Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir once again became the centre of controversy, and India received broad condemnation for the disrespectful manner it dealt with the funeral services. Regardless of how or where he was buried, Gillani’s final act—a worthy culmination to his distinguished political career—was making a political statement. His stature was remarkable. Even those around him were compelled to acknowledge this.People regard Syed Ali Shah Gillani as a man who India “could not buy” with benefits or “bend” over because of the the threat of imprisonment. He disregarded all direct talks with New Delhi until it “accepts Kashmir as a disputed territory” and insisted on the centrality of the right to self-determination.Syed Ali Gillani was a foresighted and visionary leader who cautioned regarding the negotiation of Indian employees and troops in Kashmir and the granting of voting rights in order to bring about a demographic change in the year 2015. “This (pro-freedom resistance in Kashmir) will continue,” he wrote in a letter to Bill Clinton, who was president of the United States at the time, in 1993. “As long as the Government of India refuses to recognise the basic and inherent right of the 12 million people (of J&K) to determine their political future and act on the UN Security Council resolutions in this regard.” Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, a pro-India chief minister, was confronted by Syed Ali Gillani when he enacted the strict Public Safety Act in the region.Syed Ali shah Gillani informed those there and those outside the assembly that the government was going to exploit the law to target political rivals, and history proved him right as he himself remained a victim of it.Today, Rights for All commemorates the visionary fighter whose continuous combat makes him a mentor for not solely Kashmiri Muslims but also for all people who confront oppression. He endures to live on in the hearts of his people even after his death.Like before, on second death anniversary of the martyrdom of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Pakistan is giving an explicit signal to India that it is vigorously condemning and would always stand in solidarity with Kashmiris. Pakistan pays tribute to a respected Kashmiri hero along with the Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control.
