Srinagar: A day after marching with Indian National Flag at iconic Lal Chowk on the 77th Independence Day, a former terrorist turned peace activist Wednesday said that doing so made him feel honored to be a citizen of a great country.
Farooq Ahmad Khan, alias Saifullah, was the first person to arrive at Lal Chowk with a tricolor to celebrate the 77th Independence Day of India on Tuesday, August 15.
Khan said by hoisting the tricolor at Lal Chowk, he gave reverence to the freedom warriors of India, and doing so made him feel honored to be part of a great country. He said that he arrived at Lal Chowk around 6:30 in the morning along with some fellow Kashmiris and tourists to unfurl the tricolor.
“I crossed over to the other side of the line of control in 1989 for arms training and after spending around a decade in Pakistan, I returned back in the early 90s, and whatever time I spend there was not less than a nightmare for me and those who had joined me,” Khan told ‘Kashmir Images’.
He said that Pakistan or its proxies in Kashmir only exploited innocent Kashmiri youth for their own vested interests.
“Today I have completely mainstreamed myself and I wish all those having adopted the path of violence take a cue. I got nothing other than making my family face a lot of hardships and I appeal to the youngsters in Kashmir to do away with violence as violence will only lead to destruction and nothing else.”
Khan said he unfurled the tricolor out of his own free will and not under any pressure or to appease anyone.
“Life has completely changed in Kashmir; I can say with confidence that peace has finally prevailed in the valley. No stone pelting is reported from anywhere, shops are open; people do their business with ease. We observed shutdowns for thirty years but got nothing,” he said.
