Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and across the world will observe ‘Black Day’ on Tuesday (today) to convey to the world how India’s occupation of Jammu and Kashmir against their will is denying them their inalienable right to self-determination.
Meanwhile, Kashmiris from all over the United States, Britain and Canada staged a rally in front of the UN Headquarters in New York, and earlier at the Indian consulate there on Sunday demanding the UN deliver on its pledge to grant right of self-determination to Kashmiris.
It was on 27th October in 1947 when Indian troops invaded Jammu and Kashmir and occupied it in total violation of the Partition Plan of the Subcontinent and against the aspirations of the Kashmiris, reported KMS.
The day will be marked with a complete shutdown in occupied Kashmir and rallies in world capitals.
Call for the shutdown has been given by the veteran Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani and other Hurriyat leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabbir Ahmed Shah and Yasin Malik and supported by pro-freedom organisations and the High Court Bar Association of the occupied territory.
In New York on Sunday, thousands of Kashmiris carrying flags of Azad Kashmir shouted slogans such as “We want freedom from India”, “Wake up UN”, “No Justice, No Peace” and “Indian forces out of Kashmir”. They condemned the Indian forces’ violation of human rights in the occupied valley and other parts of the region.
Billed as a ‘Million-Man-March’, Kashmiris and their supporters first demonstrated at the Indian mission and then marched in a big procession towards the UN. A strong posse of New York police ringed the demonstrators, who also included representatives of several Pakistani political parties.
Barrister Sultan MahmoodChaudhry, former prime minister of Azad Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Fai, Capt. Shaheen Butt, Sardar Sawar Khan and several other activists called on India to bring an end to its aggression in Kashmir, and asked the Security Council to implement its resolutions that provide a UN-sponsored plebiscite to determine the wishes of Kashmiri people.
Barrister Sultan warned that the Kashmiri youth, who had laid down their arms to pursue their struggle by peaceful means, were again becoming restive and the prevailing tensions in occupied Kashmir might explode and lead to a conflict. He therefore urged the international community to resolve the Kashmir dispute for peace and stability in South Asia.
Ghulam Nabi Fai supported dialogue between India and Pakistan to settle the dispute, but said that the people of Kashmir must be made part of the process. A comprehensive settlement was not possible without the participation of genuine representatives of Kashmir.