Sheikh Abdul Aziz

Who was Sheikh Abdul Aziz?

Sheikh Abdul Aziz was chairman of the 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 a strong advocate of the right to self-determination of Kashmiri people and believed that an independent plebiscite under UN supervision could bring long lasting peace in South-Asia.

Aziz was allegedly killed by 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 native Indian Hindu hardliner groups allegedly with the tacit support of the Indian government.

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 in 1989 of armed struggle against Indian rule in Indian Administered Kashmir