Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Pakistan Army have paid homage to Kashimiri leader Syed Ali Geelani on his first death anniversary.
In a tweet, PM Shehbaz said that Geelani ‘personified the very essence of Kashmiris’ struggle’ for right to self-determination.
The premier said that although Kashmir’s “Baba-e-Hurriyat” (father of freedom movement) was ‘frail’, he was ‘firm’ in his resolve to acquire Kashmir’s freedom from India.
“Geelani sahib remains as relevant to the freedom struggle today as he was in life,” the PM said on the social networking site.
The top Kashmiri leader, a recipient of Nishan-e-Pakistan, passed away at the age of 92 last year and was buried in a tightly controlled pre-dawn ceremony amid lockdown in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.
Indian authorities had also turned down his final wish to be buried at the Martyrs Cemetery in Srinagar.
The Inter-Services Public Relations Pakistan (ISPR), the media wing of Pakistan military, also paid homage to the iconic Kashmiri leader.
“Pakistani Nation pays tribute to brave Syed Ali Shah Geelani for epic resistance and fight against the worst Indian oppression/atrocities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir (IIOJK)” the ISPR said in a tweet.
“His lifelong struggle for right to self-determination as per aspirations of people of Kashmir and United Nations resolutions shall always inspire generations to come,” the tweet added further.