Kashmiris across the world observe black day

President Alvi, PM Imran reiterate Pakistan’s continued support

ISLAMABAD: Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and the world over observed black day on Saturday to convey to the world that India's occupation of Jammu and Kashmir is totally illegal, unjust and contrary to the Kashmiris' aspirations.

It was on this day in 1947 when Indian troops invaded Jammu and Kashmir and occupied it in total disregard to the partition plan of the subcontinent and against the Kashmiris' aspirations.

The day was marked with a complete shutdown in occupied Kashmir and rallies in world capitals. Call for the shutdown was given by the Joint Resistance Leadership, comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, and supported by other pro-freedom organisations.

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) organised a protest demonstration in front of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, in connection with the Kashmir Black Day.



The speakers said that the UN and the world community had acknowledged Kashmir as a disputed territory and promised to give the Kashmiris their right to self-determination, but despite the passage of 71 years the commitment remained unfulfilled.

And in his message on the occasion, President Dr Arif Alvi reiterated Pakistan's unflinching and steadfast moral, diplomatic and political support for the just cause of the people of India Occupied Kashmir (IOK), and said that this support would continue till the realisation of their lawful right to self-determination.

"We pay homage to the sacrifices of our brethren in the IOK," he said.

And Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan would not relent in its moral, political and diplomatic support until the Kashmiris realised their legitimate right to self-determination in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

In his message to the nation on Kashmir Black Day annually observed on October 27, PM Imran said, “Today marks a tragic day in the history of South Asia. This is the day India sent in its armed forces to occupy Jammu and Kashmir against the aspirations and fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people as well as against all principles of International Law."

He said the recent UN Report on Kashmir was an acknowledgment of Indian policies of occupation that included well-documented human rights atrocities. He called for immediate implementation of the recommendation to set up a UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) to investigate human rights abuses by Indian occupation forces.

He said the continued brutal suppression of Kashmiri people and recent surge in killings of young Kashmiris required urgent action.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that Kashmiris’ sacrifices would bear fruit and dawn of freedom would come soon.

In his message, Fawad said that Pakistan stood by Kashmiris and paid tributes to them for the freedom struggle and sacrifices they offered in the face of naked state terrorism from India.



He said that Kashmiris in Pakistan and all over the world were observing black day as on this day Indian army, in violation of international laws and against the will of the Kashmiris people, landed its troops in the state and illegally occupied it.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Ali Jehangir Siddiqui reaffirmed the country's continued and unflinching political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people at a special event organised in Washington to mark the Kashmir Black Day, with a call to American people to take cognisance of human plight in IOK.

Members of the European and Belgium Parliament and community leaders demanded an independent international investigation into the gross human rights violations in IOK as recommended by the United Nation's Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNOHCHR) in its report this year.

They were addressing a conference organised by the Embassy of Pakistan in Brussels at the Press Club Brussels Europe to observe the Kashmir Black Day with a view to drawing attention of the international community to the human rights violations in IOK, according to a message received here.

Speaking at the launch of a report ‘The Case of Human Rights Violations in Kashmir’ by the Center of Peace and Social Studies (CPASS), Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said the day was not far when the people of IOK would get independence from India.

He strongly condemned the atrocities of the Indian forces on innocent Kashmiris and urged the whole nation to come forward to play its role.

In Pakistan, rallies were taken out to express solidarity with oppressed people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to condemn the brutalities of Indian oppressive forces on innocent Kashmiris.

A large number of people participated in these rallies. Addressing the participants, speakers termed October 27 as the darkest day in the history when Indian forces invaded Jammu and Kashmir and occupied it in total violation of the subcontinent’s partition plan.

They condemned the ongoing violence against innocent Kashmiris and serious violation of fundamental human rights and international laws by the Indian occupation forces.

The National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) on Saturday observed the day by organising screening of documentaries on a large projector at Heritage Museum Hall, highlighting the atrocities being committed by the Indian forces in IOK. The Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit- Baltistan in collaboration with Lok Virsa organised the event.

A large number of Lok Virsa visitors also participated in the documentaries to express solidarity with the Kashmiri brothers.

The event was aimed to highlights atrocities committed by the Indian forces on the innocent Kashmiri people struggling for their right to self-determination.



Banners bearing slogans in support of the Kashmir cause were displayed at prominent locations at Lok Virsa premises, Shakarparian.  Black flag was also hoisted at Lok Virsa premises on the day.

The Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Saturday organised daylong cultural activities to observe the day and express solidarity with the Kashmiri brothers struggling for their self-determination right.