MUZAFFARABAD: A Black Day will be observed in Muzaffarabad on January 26, coinciding with Indian Republic Day, under the auspices of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Cell (JKLC).
According to a joint announcement, a full-scale protest demonstration will be organised with the stated aim of drawing international attention to what the organisers described as ongoing Indian oppression, unconstitutional actions, and persistent human rights violations in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued in Muzaffarabad, the APHC-AJK chapter and JKLC said Indian Republic Day did not represent an occasion of celebration for the Kashmiri people, but served as a reminder of what they termed slavery, oppression and exploitation.
The statement said that instead of granting the people of Jammu and Kashmir their right to self-determination, as recognised under United Nations resolutions, India continued to enforce military sieges, carry out enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, arrests of political leaders, and impose restrictions on basic freedoms in the occupied territory.
It added that the observance of Black Day was intended to highlight what it described as a contradiction between India’s constitutional and democratic claims and the situation on the ground in occupied Kashmir, stating that the Kashmiri people were not prepared to accept Indian control under any circumstances.
The APHC-AJK chapter and JKLC appealed to the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, political and social groups, students, lawyers, civil society organisations and the media to take part in the Black Day protest and collectively raise their voice against what they termed Indian atrocities, with the aim of bringing the issue to the attention of the international community.
