MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq said on Sunday that India violated the principles of partition on October 27, 1947, by deploying its forces in Kashmir against the will of its people and occupying part of the region.
In his message marking Kashmir Black Day, he said India’s claim over Jammu and Kashmir, based on the so-called Instrument of Accession, was rejected by the United Nations.
He added that Kashmiris have never accepted Indian occupation and have continued their struggle for freedom for more than seven decades.
The AJK premier said that for 77 years, India has committed grave human rights violations in occupied Kashmir. He recalled that in November 1947, Indian forces, aided by Dogra troops, RSS, and Akali Dal extremists, massacred around 250,000 Muslims in Jammu and forced many more to migrate. Thousands, he said, also fled to Azad Kashmir and Pakistan during the wars of 1965 and 1971.
Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq said more than 96,000 civilians have been martyred in occupied Kashmir since 1989, while human rights activists and journalists face imprisonment and restrictions on expression, assembly, and press freedom.
He condemned India’s August 5, 2019 move to revoke the region’s special constitutional status, calling it a violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions. He said India is attempting to alter the demographic composition of occupied Jammu and Kashmir by settling non-Kashmiris and giving them preference in employment.
The prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s political, moral, and diplomatic support for Kashmiris’ right to self-determination. He urged the United Nations and the international community to ensure the implementation of UN resolutions on Kashmir, expressing hope that occupied Jammu and Kashmir would one day be free from Indian control.
