WASHINGTON: Pakistanis living in the United States observed “Black Day” on Wednesday to express solidarity with Kashmiri people in the Indian-held Kashmir who are facing yet another wave of violence erupted after the martyrdom of a Kashmiri youth leader at the hands of Indian force early this month.
Pakistani Americans from all sections of the society attended a special ceremony hosted by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington to reiterate diplomatic and political support to the valiant struggle of the Kashmiri people in the occupied valley.
Wearing black band, the participants of the ceremony strongly condemned the fresh wave of violence and urged the world community and the United States to prevent killing of innocent people by the Indian security forces.
The violence has intensified in the occupied valley after the death of Kashmiri freedom fighter Burhan Wani on July 8. The people of Kashmir turned in thousands to attend his funeral prayer and to protest Indian oppression. Dozens of people including children and women have lost their lives in the most ruthless campaign launched by the Indian security forces in a bid to quell the wave of protest across the valley.
Speaking on the occasion, the HOC Sajid Bilalpaid tributes to the valiant struggle of the Kashmiri people and condemned the brutality unleashed by the Indian troops.
“We salute the people of Jammu & Kashmir who continue to render huge sacrifices for their just cause of freedom from Indian occupation,” he said while reminding the international community that it was India which went to United Nations with the Kashmir dispute. “And it is that country which brazenly continues to defy UNSC Resolutions calling for an impartial plebiscite in the occupied territory.”
He said India has relied on torture and terror against the hapless Kashmiris for refusing to surrender the subjugation. The recent upsurge in the state sponsored violence against innocent civilian protesters in Indian occupied Kashmir has further exposed the tyrannical rule that India has exercised in Kashmir for the past almost seven decades, in shameful violation of a number of UN resolutions, he added.
More than 40 innocent Kashmiris have died and thousands are injured, dozens critically, since Wani’s martyrdom. In an effort to hide its atrocities, India has imposed a complete media blackout in Kashmir.
Copies of newspapers have been confiscated, media offices sealed and journalists arrested. To muzzle the voice of oppressed people, internet and mobile phone services have also been suspended.
The HOC urged the international community to take notice of the culture of impunity, grave human rights violations and state-sponsored terror nurtured by India throughout its illegal rule in Jammu & Kashmir.
“The only acceptable solution to this unspeakable human tragedy lies in the just resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute according to the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and according to the United Nations Security Council Resolutions.”
He reiterated Pakistan’s political and diplomatic support to the struggle of the Kashmiri people and said the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will continue to seek peaceful resolution to the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.
