Trehgam Remembers Son of Soil With Rally

*Srinagar, Feb 11, KONS:*

Special functions were held in Trehgam,Kupwara, the native village of executed JKLF founder, Muhammad MaqboolBhat, to mark his 25th anniversary, during which his only surviving brother, Zahoor Ahmad, formally entered politics in Kashmir, declaring that the role of the gun had ended.Mother of Maqbool Bhat on the doorsteps of her home in Trehgam on Wednesday. Maqbool is hailed as father of nation in Kashmir.Zahoor, who had returned to the valley last week after a twenty-year stay in Pakistan administered Kashmir, arrived in Trehgam along with his wife and four children to an enthusiastic welcome, and was conferred a ritualturban, anointing him as the head of the Aman faction of the JKLF in the valley.The youngest of Maqbool’s brothers had taken up the gun at the age of 16 after going across the LoC immediately after his matriculation, and has served time in Indian prisons before heading for Muzaffarabad again on his release.Greeted by slogans in favour of freedom and Maqbool, Zahoor announced that he had returned for the sake of freedom and to complete his brother’s mission.“The gun is not needed now. I have come back as a political activist,”he said.“No one should harbour the impression that the JKLF has surrendered. It has only silenced the gun,” he said.He said that the JKLF had been active on four fronts, viz militant,political, diplomatic and publicity, but now the gun had gone to the fourth number.“Work needs to intensified on the political front,” he said.According to Zahoor, Maqbool Bhat had envisioned a united Mirpur,Gilgit, Ladakh, Kashmir and Jammu, and that his faction of the JKLF favoured an independent dominion comprised of all these regions.Replying to questions, Zahoor said that the Kashmir issue would be resolved through dialogue, and that the politcal and the diplomatic fronts needed to be strengthened.“Kashmiris are in bondage to both India and Pakistan, and I will work for the idea of an independent nation,” he said.When asked what route he had taken to return, Zahoor said.“I have not made a deal with India. I have trampled the bloody LoC several times, and have trampled it again today for my return.”He said that the JKLF would mount international pressure on India to return the mortal remains of Maqbool Bhat, and continue the struggle in this context.“If people of Trehgam back me, I will receive the support of entire Kashmir. I will fight for the independence of my nation till my last breath,” he said.Zahoor complained that the freedom struggle had been restricted to the valley, and needed to be taken to Jammu and Ladakh.“Hurriyat leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad yasin Malik have offered tremendous sacrifices, I have stepped into a new atmosphere. I hope that these leaders will guide me,”he said.Zahoor described mainstream parties in the valley as Indian tools who had been exploiting people since 1947.“It was during Dr. Farooq Abdullah’s government that the death warrant of Maqbool was signed. People should bear that in mind and carry Maqbool’s dream forward.Later Zahoor was taken to the martyrs’ graveyard in a procession where his six-year-old daughter read out Maqbool’s last testament.