Jammu Kashmir braces for anniversary of 'Black Day'

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu Kashmir 

Heavy numbers of Indian security forces were on the streets across Jammu Kashmir on Friday, the 70th anniversary of India’s annexation of the region.

Neighborhoods in Srinagar were placed under curfew-like restrictions as protests were expected to mark “Black Day”.

The Joint Resistance Leadership called for demonstrations to be held after Friday prayers and shops, businesses and schools remained closed, with roads free of public buses and rail services suspended.

Indian soldiers entered the Muslim-majority region on Oct. 27, 1947, and the region has been a source of tension between India and Pakistan ever since.

In 1989, resistance groups launched a campaign for independence or unification with Pakistan, leading to more than 70,000 deaths. India maintains more than half a million troops in the region.

In Pakistan, President Mamnoon Hussain reiterated his country’s support, referring to the day as one of the “most tragic chapters of human history.”

He added: “I join the international community to express our complete solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren who continue to suffer today at the hands of a brutal occupation.

“We will continue to extend to them our unflinching moral, political and diplomatic support in their just struggle for the right to self-determination.

‘Dream for freedom’

“Our support will continue until the realization of the cherished dream for freedom of millions of Kashmiris from draconian Indian occupation.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said: “We pay homage to the sacrifices of our brethren… and reiterate our unflinching and steadfast moral, diplomatic and political support for the just cause of the people of Jammu Kashmir.

“This support will continue until the realisation of the lawful right to self-determination of the people of Jammu Kashmir.”

Political, social and human rights activists marched on the UN Observer Mission office in Islamabad to register their protest against “illegal occupation” of the valley, and press their demand for a UN-promised plebiscite in the valley.

Attended by a large number of people, similar rallies were held across the country. 

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir. Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

Pakistan managed to take one-third of the Himalayan Valley in the wake of 1948 war, with the remaining two-thirds of Kashmir going to India.

Ceasefire

The two neighbors had agreed on a ceasefire following UN intervention, which also promised a plebiscite allowing the people of Kashmir to choose out of Pakistan and India to annex with. But, the promised referendum never took place as New Delhi declared Jammu Kashmir its “integral part” following a controversial resolution passed by its hand-picked Kashmir state assembly in 1951.

Since then, tensions between the two nuclear neighbors have failed to ease amid frequent border clashes and a string of other land and sea disputes.

In last one year alone, over 100 people have been killed on either side by border clashes prompted by heightened tensions over the killing of 19 Indian soldiers at their base in Jammu Kashmir in September, which India blamed on Pakistan.

New Delhi also blames Islamabad for arming and training the “rebels” fighting Indian forces in Jammu Kashmir.

Pakistan denies both allegation and has accused India of trying to divert attention from violence in Jammu Kashmir that has killed scores of anti-Indian protesters.

Over 60,000 Kashmiris have been killed in the ongoing freedom struggle since 1989. India maintains around 500,000 troops in the valley.

Anti-India sentiments in the valley have shot up in recent months following the death of 22-year old militant commander Burhan Muzzafer Wani in a gun battle with Indian security forces last year propelling a large number of local boys to take up arms.

* Aamir Latif and Ahmet Sait Akcay contributed to this story.