Altaf Ahmed Bhat Honors Afzal Guru, Maqbool Bhat; Slams ‘Judicial Killings’ and Detention Deaths of Hurriyat Leaders

Islamabad: Senior leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and Chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Salvation Movement (JKSM), Altaf Ahmed Bhat, paid glowing tribute to Shaheed Afzal Guru and Shaheed Maqbool Bhat, describing their executions as politically driven acts aimed at crushing the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Altaf Ahmed Bhat said that Afzal Guru was deliberately made a scapegoat through a deeply flawed and biased trial to reinforce a manufactured narrative. He termed Guru’s hanging a judicial killing, asserting that his legal rights were systematically denied. He further condemned the secrecy surrounding Guru’s execution and burial inside Tihar Jail, calling it a grave violation of international law, religious freedoms, and basic human dignity. Reiterating a long-standing demand, he urged Indian authorities to return Afzal Guru’s mortal remains to his family for a dignified burial.
Paying homage to Shaheed Maqbool Bhat, the iconic founder of Kashmir’s resistance movement, Altaf Ahmed Bhat said his execution remains one of the darkest symbols of political repression in Jammu and Kashmir. He maintained that Maqbool Bhat was executed not for any crime, but for giving voice to the Kashmiri people’s legitimate demand for freedom and self-determination. “History has vindicated Maqbool Bhat. Those who silenced him through the gallows stand fully exposed before the world,” he said.
Altaf Ahmed Bhat emphasized that the sacrifices of these martyrs continue to inspire the Kashmiri resistance and reaffirm that the quest for freedom cannot be extinguished through executions, prisons, or brute force.
Expressing serious concern over what he described as detention assassinations of Hurriyat leaders, Altaf Ahmed Bhat said India is deliberately using prolonged incarceration and denial of medical care as a calculated strategy to eliminate Kashmir’s political leadership. He cited the custodial deaths of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Ashraf Sehrai, Altaf Fantoosh, and others, stating that their deaths were the direct consequence of intentional medical neglect.
Drawing attention to the worsening health conditions of several detained leaders, he said Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Masarat Alam Bhat, Zaffar Akbar Bhat, Naeem Khan, Asiya Andrabi, and Dr. Abdul Hameed Fayyaz are being held in harsh and inhumane prison conditions despite advanced age and serious illnesses. He termed their continued detention illegal and a blatant violation of international human rights conventions.
“These are not prisoners of law, but prisoners of conscience. Denying them medical care while keeping them incarcerated amounts to nothing less than a silent execution,” he stated.
Altaf Ahmed Bhat said India’s refusal to release critically ill political detainees exposes the emptiness of its claims of democracy and rule of law. “No democracy sustains itself by imprisoning dissenters until death. This is repression disguised as legality,” he added.
He called upon the United Nations, international human rights organizations, global leaders, and civil society to urgently intervene and pressure India to release all illegally detained Hurriyat leaders. He warned that continued silence would amount to complicity in grave human rights violations.
Altaf Ahmed Bhat also urged the Government of Pakistan to actively utilize its diplomatic forums to advocate for the immediate release of Kashmiri political detainees and to intensify pressure on India to end its policy of repression in Jammu and Kashmir.