Srinagar: Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and the world over observed Black Day, today, to convey the message to the world that they reject India’s illegal occupation of their motherland and will continue their struggle till complete freedom from Indian yoke.
It was on the 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 Kashmiris’ aspirations.
The day was marked with a complete shutdown in occupied Kashmir. All shops and business establishments remained closed while traffic was off the road. 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 organizations and High Court Bar Association of the occupied territory. The resistance leaders termed the 27th October 1947 as an unfortunate day for the Kashmiris when they were deprived of their freedom and liberty. The puppet authorities had imposed stringent restrictions in Srinagar and deployed Indian troops and police personnel in strength in the summer capital and other major towns to prevent people from holding anti-India demonstrations on the occasion of the Black Day. The authorities sealed Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, on the fifth consecutive week, disallowing the Juma prayers at the historic mosque. The occupation authorities also placed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house detention and arrested Hakeem Abdur Rasheed and Mukhtar Ahmed Waza. People staged forceful protests at Shadipora in Sumbal area of Bandipora district, today, against a fresh braid-chopping incident.
Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders held a demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to mark the Black Day, today. A big protest rally was taken out from Shaheed Burhan Wani Chowk to the UN Observer Office in Muzaffarabad. The AJK Prime Minister, Raja Farooq Haider Khan, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan, Bajees Tahir and other speakers at a function organized in Muzaffarabad by Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Cell said that the Kashmiris would not rest till they achieved freedom from Indian subjugation.
In London, speakers at a seminar urged the international community to play an effective role in the settlement of the Kashmir dispute. The seminar was organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front UK-chapter and the speakers included Lord Nazir Ahmed, Lord Qurban Hussain, Chris Leslie MP, Gavin Shuker MP, Dr Dibyesh Anand, Ms Victoria Schofield, Graham Wilson and Professor Zafar Khan. A Kashmiri delegation met with the Conservative Party Chairman, Sir Patrick McLaughlin MP, at Halifax in Yorkshire and the Vice Chairperson of Conservative Party and Chairperson of Friends of Kashmir in European Parliament, Anthea Mcintyre MEP, in Birmingham and apprised them of the grim human rights situation in occupied Kashmir. Agencies
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