Indian Independence Day observed as Black Day

In a show of solidarity with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the International Kashmir Peace Forum (IKPF) marked India's Independence Day on August 15 as Black Day.

On August 15, Kashmiris worldwide, alongside IKPF—the largest organisation of Pakistanis and Kashmiris in Europe—commemorate the day with protests and calls for justice.

Commemorating Black Day, the IKPF organised an event, chaired by IKPF President and founder Zahid Hashmi and attended by Presidential Advisor to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Imtiaz Ahmad Khan as the chief guest. The event began with the recitation of the Quran and the national anthems of Pakistan and Kashmir.

Speakers condemned India's ongoing human rights abuses in IIOJK, urging the United Nations, European Union, OIC, and other international bodies to take immediate action against Indian state terrorism.

Addressing the gathering, Sardar Imtiaz Khan stressed that the Indian government must end its brutal repression of the Kashmiri people.

Zahid Hashmi, in his address, denounced India's abrogation of Articles 35A and 370, which stripped IIOJK of its special status.

He accused India of forcibly perpetuating turmoil in the region and disrupting its peace, adding that the regime further imprisoned political leaders and subjected innocent civilians, including women and children, to widespread violence.

Hashmi asserted that no matter how much India oppresses the Kashmiris, they will not retreat from their demand for the right to self-determination.

"Kashmiris have sacrificed countless lives, and their long struggle for freedom will eventually bear fruit."

He affirmed that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is and will remain a single entity, and its integrity cannot be compromised. He added that Jammu and Kashmir was an autonomous entity even before India and Pakistan existed.

Hashmi also criticised the United Nations as fraudulent and the Security Council as ineffective, while Islamic states remain entangled in their own issues. He questioned why Palestine was visible to the world, but occupied Jammu and Kashmir was not. Others who spoke on the occasion included Pervez Chaudhry, Raja Tahir Iqbal Chaudhry, Tanveer Ali, Ashraf Gondal, Madam Roohi Bano, President of the International Kashmir Peace Forum Women's Wing Nina Khan, Shabana Chaudhry, and others.