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PESHAWAR, Oct 25 (APP):Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and across Pakistan are set to observe October 27 as black day to mark their protest against India’s illegal occupation of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Commemorating the day when Indian troops illegally landed in Srinagar on October 27, 1947, Kashmiris will hold protest rallies, seminars, conferences, and symposiums to highlight the continued human rights abuses and state terrorism committed by Indian occupation forces, which have turned IIOJ&K as the largest open prison of the modern era.
“As the sun disappears behind the Mahadev Mountain at Srinagar, the atmosphere in IIOJ&K becomes heavy with fear, cruelty and oppression due to the continued state terrorism unleashed by Indian occupation forces since 1947,” said Mushtaq Ahmed Shah, Vice Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League, while speaking to APP on Saturday.
He said that illegal night raids, house searches, and assaults on civilians by Indian forces have become routine at IIOJ&K.
“As darkness falls at IIOJ&K, Indian occupation forces, often accompanied by sniffer dogs, break into houses under the guise of search operations, terrifying women and children and leaving residents sleepless,” he lamented.
Since the abrogation of IIOJK’s special status on August 5, 2019 by the Hindutva-led Modi government, Mushtaq Shah said, the situation has worsened in the held velley where independence movment entered in important phase.
Inspite of oppressive environment that altered daily life, Kashmiris of IIOJ&K continued freedom movement despite heavy deployment of Indian occupation forces.
He said that schools, businesses, and mosques in the occupied territory operate under constant military surveillance. Many parents, he said, are afraid to send their children to educational institutions, bazaars, or places of worship due to fear of harassment or violence.
“The indiscriminate use of live ammunition, cluster bombs, sniper fire, and pellet guns has made life a nightmare for millions of Kashmiris,” Mushtaq Shah said. He added that numerous innocent people have been killed in fake encounters, while women and children face assaults used as weapons of war.
Referring to the 2019 report of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Mushtaq Shah claimed that it had exposed systematic human rights violations and war crimes by Indian forces in the occupied territory.
“India has consistently barred independent observers to conceal the existence of mass graves and enforced disappearances,” he said.
The OHCHR report documented the excessive use of force and pellet guns against peaceful demonstrators in 2016—actions that violate UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.
He condemned the Armed Forces Jammu and Kashmir Special Powers Act (AFSPA), imposed in 1990, which grants sweeping powers and immunity to Indian troops, enabling them to detain individuals without charge or trial. The Public Safety Act (PSA) was amended in 2018, allowing the transfer of Kashmiri political leaders to prisons outside the territory.
Condemning India’s denial of public funerals for Kashmiri leaders, he cited the case of iconic Syed Ali Gillani, whose body was forcibly taken from his family and buried secretly at night.
He also referenced the life imprisonment of great Kashmiri leader Muhammad Yasin Malik in a fabricated case aimed at silencing pro-freedom leadership.
The killing of Burhan Wani and other resistance figures, as well as the issuance of over six million illegal domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris, reflected the Modi regime’s demographic engineering to marginalize the local Muslim majority.
Citing Pakistan’s 2021 dossier on Kashmir, he highlighted the unmasking of 8,652 unmarked graves in 89 villages across six districts, and the burning alive of 37 civilians by occupation forces. Since 1989, he added, the region has witnessed about 162,000 cases of arbitrary arrests and torture, 25,000 pellet gun injuries, 11,250 incidents of sexual violence, 23,000 widowed women and 108,000 orphaned children.
He said the use of cluster munitions and human shields along the Line of Control (LoC) further proves the Indian government’s direct involvement in war crimes and terrorism against humanity.
Condemned the targeted attacks on Muslims in Tripura, where mosques and shops were vandalized by extremist groups like the RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal, he said l “this is part of a wider malicious campaign against minorities in India,” he said.
Dr. Hussain Shaheed Soharwardi, Chairman of the International Relations Department, University of Peshawar, said India’s actions in IIOJK constitute flagrant violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948.
“It is time for the international community to look beyond economic interests and take collective action to stop the genocide of Kashmiris,” he urged.
“World powers must pressure the Modi government to reverse its illegal actions of August 5, 2019 first and grant Kashmiris their right to self-determination—a prerequisite for lasting peace in South Asia.”
Expressing dismay over the muted response of the international community, he said that four wars have already been fought over Kashmir and another conflict between two nuclear powers could devastate global peace.
The experts said that Pakistan has given befitting response to the indian aggression in May last conflict and shotdown seven indian warplanes.
The experts called on the United Nations and world powers to play a proactive role in resolving the long-standing dispute in line with UN resolutions, similar to the East Timor model.
They concluded that resolving the Kashmir issue is vital for the progress, stability, and prosperity of over a billion people in the subcontinent.
They said the road to peace in South Asia was passing through Kashmir and lasting peace in this region was possible only after resolution of this issue as per the UN Security Council resolutions.