Commemorating Kashmir's 'Che'
THOUSANDS OF people on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC, the Line that divides Pakistani Occupied and Indian Occupied Kashmir) in Kashmir, different cities in Pakistan and Europe, recently celebrated the 19th anniversary of a radical nationalist leader, Maqbool Butt - the 'Kashmiri Che'!
The Indian authorities hanged Maqbool Butt in 1984. Since his death he has become a hero of those Kashmiri workers, poor peasants and young people struggling for an end to oppression at the hands of foreign occupying forces and for their own genuine national liberation.
The left-nationalist Nat-ional Awami Party (NAP) and National Students Federation (NSF) organised rallies at all the district headquarters and other places, including Mirpur, Muzaffarbad, Poonch, Bagh and Kotli.
In Kotli, protesters carried banners with slogans such as: "Maqbool Butt's dream: For a united independent democratic socialist Kashmir".
NAP members distributed hundreds of leaflets entitled No War For Oil, and What We Want.
A meeting of Jammu and Kashmir NAP in Kotli passed a resolution against capitalism, imperialism and for national liberation.
It also expressed complete solidarity with the oppressed of Iraq and condemned the 'War for oil' by US imperialism and other capitalist powers.