The Day Which Carried Darkness
Today we will not greet each other; we will not praise Malala for the noble peace award, we will not celebrate independence or republic day. Today we will curse and observe Black Day. Today a mother will curse, a father will curse, a brother will curse, a sister will curse, and today we will raise our voice against illegal occupation.
October 27 occupies a prominent place in Kashmir’s history. 27th of October is being remembered as the “Black Day” in the history of Kashmir. People protest against Indian occupation, who had forcibly taken over the land. On this day Indian armed forces took over the Kashmir by force and made it India’s integral part. Kashmiris all over the world are observing Black Day on 27th of October.
Kashmir has been on war zone for more than six decades now. Kashmir is known for its prolonged dispute between India and Pakistan, which originated when the people of Jammu And Kashmir State were denied the right of self-determination in 1947. Back in 1947 India violated the guidelines set for deciding the future of three States, three of the independent Princely States at that time, which were given the choice to either accede to Pakistan, India or remain independent, considering the geographical situation and communal demography. India forcibly occupied Hyderabad and Junagarh, which had Hindus in majority but their rulers were Muslims. Kashmir was a Muslim-majority state and had a natural tendency to accede to Pakistan.
India consistently pressurized the Hindu Ruler to accede to India. Apprehending that the Hindu ruler was likely to succumb to Indian pressure, the people of Jammu and Kashmir raised their voice against him, forcing him to flee from Srinagar, the capital of the State. They formed their own government on 24th October, 1947. Indian troops, the forces of Dogra Maharaja, and Hindu extremists massacred over three hundred thousand Kashmiri Muslims within a period of two months with the intention to change the demographic composition of the territory.
It’s the then ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, however, on 27 October 1947 acceded to India through an improper and illegal Instrument of Accession, although he has lost the support of people who have established an independent state (Azad Jammu & Kashmir). On the same day, UNIFORMED HOOLIGANS (INDIAN TROOPS) landed on the sacred land of Kashmir. But Indian leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister and Lord Mountbatten, the then Governor General of India, solemnly declared that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir would be decided by the people of the State. This declaration was reiterated by India at the UN Security Council when the dispute was referred to that august body, under chapter 6 of the U.N Charter relating to peaceful settlement of disputes.
India, however, thwarted all attempts by the United Nations to organize a plebiscite in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Eventually, India openly resided from its commitments and declared that Jammu and Kashmir was/is an integral part of India
The Indian armed intervention in the State of Jammu and Kashmir was illegal and took place against the wishes of the Kashmiri people. Despite the decision of the UN Security Council for the holding of a plebiscite to allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their own future, India’s own pledges to that effect, and reiteration of their commitment of resolving the Kashmir issue in the Shimla Agreement of 1972 signed between Pakistan and India after the 1971 war, India continues to remain in illegal occupation of a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, refuses to allow the Kashmiris to decide their own future and continues its brutal suppression in the territory.
It is for this reason that Kashmiris and freedom loving people across globe observe 27th October as Black Day.
The UN Security Council overlooked Kashmir Issue, As a result about 139,000 square kilometers area of Jammu and Kashmir remained with India while 83,807 square kilometers constituted the territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Indian rulers promised before the UN to resolve the dispute and provide the people of Kashmir with their basic right of self-determination, but later backed away from their commitments.
Kashmiris are facing brutality of Indian forces, More Than 60 years passed Kashmiris are bearing behemoth of torture, genocide, killing, humiliation, curfews, rapes and all kind of harassment. If we turn the pages of history and count the number of people died during the freedom struggle, the number will be less than the number of people died in the struggle movement since 1947. The Indian armed forces have deliberately killed and tortured thousands of Kashmiri’s which have time to time been reported on international media also. Like, in 2012, Guardian published an article “Mass graves” and UK Channel also released a documentary, telling the untold stories of Indian brutality in Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir is the most heavily militarized zone across globe.
The unresolved issue of Kashmir is a challenge to the world .International human rights Community who condemn execution of hundreds of Sunnis in Iran, but they overlook rape of over 10,000 women in Indian Occupied Kashmir by Indian Security Forces. As a Kashmiri I am shell shocked to see the criminal silence maintained by the entire world on this issue. No body across globe is paying heed to our sufferings which we have been facing from the last seven decades.
Let’s revive our oath of fighting till freedom from India amid black-day for Kashmir on this day