Sheikh Abdul Aziz

Sheikh Abdul Aziz (1952 – August 11, 2008) was Chairman Jammu Kashmir Peoples League and a prominent member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference

Sheikh Abdul Aziz (1952 – August 11, 2008) was Chairman Jammu Kashmir Peoples League and a prominent member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an alliance of Kashmiri pro-freedom groups at the forefront of the political struggle against Indian rule in Indian Administered Kashmir. He was strong advocate of Right to Self-Determination of Kashmiri people and believed that an Independent plebiscite under UN supervision can bring long lasting peace in South-Asia.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz was assassinated by of Indian Paramilitary Forces on August 11, 2008 while leading a peaceful public demonstration against the ‘economic blockade’ of the Kashmir Valley predominantly having Muslim population being enforced by Indian Hindu hardliner groups allegedly with the tacit support of the Indian government.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz was a former militant commander turned pro-freedom politician. He had been jailed on several occasions for demanding accession of Kashmir with Pakistan. He is the third prominent pro-freedom leader to have been killed after the eruption of the armed struggle in 1989 against Indian rule in Indian Administered Kashmir and the second chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s League to have been killed by the Indian Paramilitary Forces. Earlier, Abdul Hamid Wani popularly known as S Hamid was killed in a staged encounter on April 19, 1998 at Ahmad Nagar on the outskirts of Srinagar.

With his assassination, Aziz emerged as new ‘martyr’ of Kashmiri Right to Self-Determination in league with Maqbool Bhat and caused a serious blow to the Kashmir conflict, further narrowing down chances of any rapprochement between the beleaguered Kashmiri nation and the increasingly militant Indian state.

Early life

Sheikh Abdul Aziz was born in 1952 in Namblabal, district Pampore close to the capital city Srinagar. He received basic education from Government School Pampore and then passed Matriculation from Government High School Pampore. Soon after passing his Matriculation examination, Aziz joined agriculture business of his father Sheikh Abdul Salam, including growing high yield saffron, for which his hometown is famous throughout the Kashmir valley.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz in his early teens watched moe-e-muqqadus movement when millions of Kashmiris came out on streets against the mysterious theft of highly revered holy relic of Prophet Muhammad from the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar. The agitation soon transformed into pro-freedom public outpouring with millions of Kashmiris demanding freedom from Indian rule.

Polical career

Moe-e-Muqqadas movement renewed decades old Kashmiri demands for freedom, giving inspiration to a new generation of Kashmiris including Aziz. Sheikh Aziz got emotionally attached with the liberation movement of Kashmir. He started his political career as a student leader and worked with many students and youth organizations to pursue the cause of Kashmir's Right to Self-Determination. In 1972 he joined pro-freedom political group Young Men’s League that called for the Kashmiri right to self-determination according to the UN Resolutions. At that he was just 20 years old.

His peaceful political activities soon came under the scanner of police. His first arrest came at the age of 20 when he was booked under the infamous and draconian National Security Act. At that time, he was the Block Secretary of the organisation.

In 1973 the Young Man’s League, Students Federation, Islamic Organization and Youth League merged into other pro-freedom groups forming the Jammu and Kashmir People’s League to which Aziz remained associated with until his death.

He went underground in 1982–1983, at that time he was holding the responsibility of District President for Pulwama (Peoples league). In 1986 he became the general secretary of the People’s League, the responsibility he carried on till 1990, when amid massive public resentment against the Indian rule; he amicably joined the armed struggle in an endeavour to highlight the Kashmir cause globally and to show the world that Kashmiri people want to live with self respect and dignity and as free people in the comity of nations. He became the chief commander of Al-Jihad, a formidable militant group in early 1990s that was supported by his parent organisation, Jammu and Kashmir People’s League.

In 1998 he was taken as APHC executive member and there on carried forward his struggle for the unfettered and globally recognized right of self determination on political front. And had to face tremendous difficulties and obstacles and hardships in this path and had to spend almost 16 years of his life in different prisons and interrogation centers.

Arrests and Imprisonment

Due to his involvement with the pro-freedom struggle, the arrests and prison sentences became a permanent fixture of Sheikh Aziz’s political life - he spent more than 16 years in prison under various charges including sedition, seeking to separate Jammu and Kashmir from the Indian control and waging a militant struggle etc. His longest spell of imprisonment came on 21 May, 1993 when he was arrested as the chief commander of now defunct Al-Jihad and lasted till 27 September 2000.

Following his release after nearly nine years of gruelling prison life, Aziz re-joined political struggle but was again arrested on 1 August 2001 for nearly three years and released in February 2004 at the peak of India-Pakistan peace process. After his release, he supported the peace process and called for peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue. He later visited Pakistan to encourage the India-Pakistan peace process and supported the end of hostilities. However, a year later, he was again arrested on 5 February 2005 and released only last November, 2007. After his release this time, Aziz joined the ‘moderate’ faction of the Hurriyat Conference, a conglomerate of the pro-freedom Kashmiri groups and once again reiterated his demand for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir problem.

However, as the crisis that was triggered by the illegal transfer of Kashmiri land to a semi-government Hindu body - Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) unfolded, Aziz along with other Kashmiri leaders took a strong stand, keeping in view the strong public sentiment against it, who see the land transfer as a covert Indian plan to seek demographic changes in the Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir.

Facilitated Unification of Hurriyat

Only days before his assassination, Aziz was instrumental in bringing the two factions of the Hurriyat Conference together, forging a common Kashmiri response to the SASB controversy and therefore was seen unfavourably by both the local pro-Indian administration and the Indian state.

Death

On 11 August 2008 the “Muzaffarabad chalo” call was given by the Hurriyat Conference and some other organisations against the 'economical blockade' of Kashmir valley by Indian Hindu fundamentalists. Processions were taken out from various areas across the valley. Sheikh Aziz and Shabbir Shah were leading the march from Sopore towards the de facto border with Pakistan, when their rally was stopped by the massive force of police and army at Chala, near Boniyar, Baramullah. Indian Paramilitary Forces opened fire at Chahal, 25 km away from the border town of Uri, to disperse the massive march. Sheikh Abdul Aziz along with many others were injured. All the critically injured were shifted to Srinagar's SMHS hospital, where Shiekh Abdul Aziz succumbed to injuries. He was buried in Marty's Graveyard in Eidgah, Srinagar on 12 August 2008.

See also

• United Nations Security Council Resolution 47
• Ayub Thakur
• Syed Ali Shah Geelani

External links

• Kashmir
• Kashmir Watch - In-depth Coverage on Kashmir Conflict
• Kashmiri - Canadian Council
• Kashmir Centre.EU
• Kashmir Affairs