PAKISTAN observes October 27 as the “Black Day” along with Kashmiris across the globe and in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). It was on the same day in 1947 that the sufferings of Kashmiri people commenced with the landing of Indian troops in Srinagar.
Since then Indian occupation forces have occupied, subjugated, oppressed, and have terrorized innocent Kashmiris. This impunity continues even today, where the presence of Indian occupation forces have increased manifold after New Delhi suspended the special status of IIOJK by revoking Articles 370 and 35-A of the Indian Constitution on August 5, 2019.
Despite commitments made by the early Indian leadership and numerous resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, the Indian government has unleashed a reign of terror in the IIOJK. Demonstrations, rallies and seminars across the globe have been organized to highlight historical injustices, violations of international law, the UN resolutions and the brutalities committed by occupying forces in the said area.
The world must acknowledge that this is the worst form of state terrorism being perpetrated against the defenseless people of IIOJK to silence and crush their legitimate struggle, in complete disregard of international human rights and humanitarian laws.
The entire Indian state machinery is involved in these crimes against humanity. There is a need for an independent, transparent and fair investigation into these human-rights violations under the UN. Pakistan has supported the proposal of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for sending a Fact-Finding Mission to Jammu and Kashmir. We reiterate our call and hope that the global community will pay heed to the miseries and sufferings of the Kashmiri people.
Earlier this year documents were shared by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi with the international media comprehensively detailing the atrocities and war crimes committed by Indian occupation forces against innocent Kashmiris. The 131-page dossier has exposed India’s false flag operations, fake encounters and fake recovery operations against the Kashmir freedom movement. Nearly 3,432 cases of war crimes have been perpetrated by senior officers of the Indian Occupation forces. Audio-video evidence can be viewed on Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site: www.mofa.gov.pk.
The Indian occupation forces’ impunity reached barbaric heights when they resorted to illegal actions on the occasion of final rites of Syed Ali Gillani—a stalwart Kashmiri leader who passed away during a long house arrest since 2008. He was denied access to all medical care. After his death, his remains were snatched from his family, depriving of proper burial and infringing on all imaginable human rights.
The Modi administration driven by Hindutva ideology has usurped fundamental rights of the Kashmiris through political and demographic engineering. It has subjugated Kashmiri Muslims to the most brutal form of military siege.
Indian atrocities since 1989 include over 96,000 extrajudicial killings, around 162,000 cases of arrest and torture, over 25,000 pellet-gun injuries, 11,250 women raped, around 23,000 of them widowed, and more than 108,000 children orphaned. These facts seek urgent attention from the global community. The world can’t keep silent on the continued denial of the right to self-determination for the last 70 years.