Flags fly at half-mast for ‘black day’

Rallies held across the province to express solidarity with Kashmir

PESHAWAR: The national flag on key government and other buildings flew at half-mast on Thursday in line with government directions as a top federal government official pointed to the unity shown by residents of the province in observing Kashmir Solidarity Day.

Scores of anti-India rallies were also held in different parts of the province in support of Kashmir and against New Delhi’s move to repeal Article 370.

Flags remained at half-mast on the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly building, the Peshawar High Court, Radio Pakistan and even the Bala Hissar Fort and all district offices in the province.

Black Day observed across Pakistan, AJK

The Aman Council Pakistan organised a rally in the provincial capital which marched from the K-P Assembly square to the Peshawar Press Club. They held up banners and placards as they chanted slogans against Indian aggression and annexation of occupied Kashmir.

Addressing the rally, Aman Council Pakistan chief said that they will always stand firmly with the Kashmir Cause of freedom and that they will neither tolerate or accept hegemonic measures by the Indian parliament.

Earlier in a special message, K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan strongly condemned Indian legislation and vowed to soon win the Kashmir cause on the diplomatic front.

Protesters shout slogans during a protest against India in a ‘Black Day’ rally on India’s Independence Day in Mohmand. PHOTO: AFP

Awan address

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan addressed a seminar at the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday.

Accompanied by K-P Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai, she said that by observing black day on the occasion of India’s independence day, they had managed to highlight the dark and evil side of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tyrannical regime to the world.

She added that they will not retreat from the Kashmir cause at any price.

Appreciating the measures of the Peshawar Press Club, Awan said that such events will give a positive message to the world that from Karachi to Khyber, all citizens of the country are on one page on the Kashmir cause.

In pictures: Pakistan observes Black Day on August 15

“By raising such voices from every part of the country, it will heal all the wounds caused of by the usurper forces of India in the occupied valley,” the information minister said, adding that by observing the black-day, they had demonstrated their solidarity with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters.

While answering a question, Awan said that today the opposition is against the PTI-led government.

“I should reiterate that the forces of Muslim unity were also against Quaid-i-Azam, while today the forces of evil also oppose Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government,” she said.

“We have raised the issue with the United Nations Security Council, we will also raise it at the world stage and will never abandon the Kashmir cause at forum until they obtain freedom from India,” Awan said. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2019.