SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Thursday paid tributes to party stalwarts Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg and Khwaja Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah on their death anniversaries at party headquarters, Nawa e Subah in Srinagar.
Addressing a small gathering of few party functionaries and office bearers to commemorate the 38th and 16th death anniversaries of the party stalwarts, party’s Additional General Secretary Dr Sheikh Mustafa Kamal paid glowing tributes to the duo for their untiring efforts towards guarding the interests of J&K and realizing the objectives of Naya Kashmir.
Among others Party’s Provincial Vice President Muhammad Syed Akhoon, Provincial Secretary Showkat Ahmad Mir, District President Srinagar Peer Afaq Ahmad, YNC Vice President Kashmir Ahsan Pardesi, Syed Tauqeer Shah, GN Bhat were also present on the occasion.
Dr Kamal while extolling the role played by the party veterans in achieving the pro peasant objectives said, “Mirza Muhammad Afzal Beg sahib and GM Shah Sahib played a crucial role in the realization of progressive and pro-poor objectives of our party. Their association with the National Conference and Sher e Kashmir was underlined with unquestionable loyalty. The duo played a pioneering and crucial role while serving the party and the people of J&K in various capacities. Both the leaders have left a trail for the coming generations to tread upon. The contribution of both the party veterans in scripting a glorious era of service and sacrifice would go down in history as an illustrious example of leadership and statesmanship. Both of them grew in the heroic mould of Sher e Kashmir and had unflinching faith in democratic and secular values. Our party firmly stands on the bedrock of service and sacrifice of such great visionaries as of late Beg Sahib and Late Shah Sahib. The sheer degree of conviction they had for the ideals of Sher e Kashmir is worth imitating by those who want to carve a niche for themselves in politics. I pay my earnest tributes to both of them.”
While reflecting on the ground situation in Kashmir over the past 10 months Dr Kamal said, “New Delhi is not willing to accept ground realities on Jammu and Kashmir. The series of radical, drastic, and unilateral steps taken by New Delhi on 5th of August last year whereby the state was demoted, carved and scrapped of the constitutional guarantees has belied New Delhi’s commitments to the people of J&K. The impeccable socio-political transformation of J&K owes it’s being to the great men like Sher e Kashmir, Molana Masoodi, Moti Ram Begra, and Mirza Afzal Beg and others who worked a day in, day out to alleviate the suffering of the people whose rights were inconsistently being trampled by the then despotic regime. The then leadership of the country and the states was awe-inspired by the fast strides of the J&k in elevating the position of its peasantry.”
Kamal said it was the people of J&k who had solemnly given to themselves a path to guide their socio-political lives and drive a people-friendly, gender-neutral and pro-poor development. “There is no denial to the fact that the present ruling dispensation sustains on the politics of discrimination and prejudice. There is no let-up in their attack on the identity of the people of J&k. The measures that were taken on Aug 05 are awaiting validation of the constitutional bench in the Apex Court of the country, but that does not deter them from carrying on with their anti-people agenda.”
“Contrary to abiding by its promises of ‘sky is the limit’, ‘Gooli nahi Booli’, ‘Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat, Kashmiriyat’ the New Delhi under the incumbent ruling dispensation has chosen to back pedal on all those assurances that were given to the people of J&k from time to time,” he added.
On the occasion, a unanimous resolution was passed by the functionaries calling for the immediate release of all incarcerated leaders, traders and others including Party General Secretary Haji Ali Muhammad Sagar, Hilal Lone. They also demanded the immediate release of other leaders who have been confined to their homes since Aug 05 2019.
Meanwhile, YNC Provincial President Salman Ali Sagar visited Syed Mantaqi Sahib graveyard at Chattabal, Srinagar and offered floral tributes and Fatiha to Khwaja GM Shah. Likewise, various party functionaries visited the graveyard of Mirza Muhammad Afzal Beg and offered floral tributes and Fateha there.
