Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and world over are observing India’s Republic Day as Black Day today.
According to Kashmir Media Service, anti-India protest demonstrations and rallies have been organised in capitals around the world, besides Azad Kashmir and Pakistan.
The day will convey that Kashmiris consider India a usurper of their fundamental rights and has no legitimacy to celebrate Republic Day in the territory.
Occupation authorities have imposed a sweeping lockdown ahead of Republic Day, with multi-layered security grids, additional checkpoints and repeated identity checks across the territory.
AJK PM Faisal Rathore message
Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, has urged the international community to fulfil its moral and legal responsibilities regarding the Kashmir issue and play its due role in ensuring a just resolution of the long-standing dispute.
In a special statement issued on the eve of India’s Republic Day, the Prime Minister said that January 26 is observed as a Black Day by the Kashmiri people as a mark of protest against India’s illegal occupation of their motherland.
Referring to the continued bloodshed, oppression, and grave human rights violations in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he said that the prevailing situation in the region exposes the hollowness of India’s claims of normalcy.
He said that the draconian laws and severe restrictions imposed in occupied Kashmir were in blatant violation of international law and democratic values. Highlighting the situation following August 5, 2019, the Prime Minister said that India’s unilateral actions led to an intensified military siege and the imposition of unjustified restrictions on civil liberties in the territory.
However, he maintained that India’s policy of oppression and suppression has failed to weaken the Kashmiris’ resolve or shake their faith in freedom. Reiterating the Kashmiris’ pledge to carry the ongoing liberation struggle to its logical conclusion, Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore said that the people of Kashmir are demanding their fundamental right to self-determination in accordance with United Nations resolutions and will continue their struggle until this goal is achieved.
