New York's Times Square lights up for Kashmir
A screengrab of billboards displaying messages in support of the Kashmir freedom struggle
As the Indian siege of Kashmir is set to enter a second year, billboards at New York city's iconic Times Square lit up in solidarity with the eight million residents being held captive in the Himalayan valley.
Asad Khan, Pakistan's ambassador in the US, shared footage of the scenes in the heart of the big apple on his Twitter handle.
"Scenes at Times Square as Kashmiris mark a full year of their imprisonment on August 5. That is one full year of forced disappearances, torture, and a siege that has been intensified on the pretext of Covid-19. #LetKashmirSpeak #OneYearSiege", the caption of the post read.
On July 31, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that Youm-e-Istehsal would be observed on August 5 in solidarity with the Kashmiri people.
On August 5, last year, the Modi government launched demographic apartheid in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir and divided the region into three parts.
"The Indian government tried to divide the Kashmiri people through this illegal act," he said, addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
Qureshi pointed out that the people of Kashmir are facing immense difficulties, pain and persecution under the continued military siege for the past one year.
The illegal actions of August 5 were aimed at ending the Muslim identity of the Kashmiri people in IIOJ&K. India is also divided on the steps taken on August 5, he said, reminding that the people of Kashmir rejected the move by India.