Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and world over are observing Kashmir Martyrs Day today to pay homage to martyrs of July 13,1931.

In occupied Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference has appealed to the Kashmiri people mark it by a complete strike in the territory.

On the 13th July 1931, the troops of Dogra Maharaja had killed 22 Kashmiris, one after the other, outside the Central Jail in Srinagar during the court proceedings against one Abdul Qadeer who had asked the Kashmiri people to defy the Dogra rule.

The APHC spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar said that on 13th July 1931, when it was time for Namaz-e-Zuhr, a young man, started the call for prayer (Azaan) but was shot dead by the Maharaja’s soldiers.

Thus, 22 youth sacrificed their lives till the completion of Azaan.

The spokesman said the aim of the strike call is to stress the urgent need for a peaceful and just solution to the Kashmir dispute and to end the cycle of oppression against the Hurriyat leaders and the Kashmiri people.

He also appealed for a march towards the Mazar-e-Shuhada, Naqshband Sahib in Srinagar on the day where the martyrs of 1931 are buried.