KARACHI, Pakistan

Kashmiris around the world are observing the Jammu Martyrs’ Day on Friday in memory of the hundreds of thousands of people killed in the disputed Himalayan region in 1947.

According to pro-freedom Kashmiri groups, hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris were massacred by forces of then Hindu ruler Hari Singh, backed by the Indian army and Hindu extremists, in different parts of Jammu region during the first week of November 1947.

In Pakistani-administered Jammu and Kashmir, the day dawned with special prayers for the martyrs of the “Kashmir liberation struggle,” state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

In a statement, Sardar Masood Khan, the president of the Pakistani-administered side of the region, said Nov. 6 was the “darkest day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.”

“On that day and in the months of October and November 1947, the Dogra Army, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and the Indian National Army massacred 237,000 Muslims. This was the first genocide after the Second World War on such a massive scale,” he said.

The massacre, he added, reduced the Muslim population in Jammu from 61% to 33%.

According to Khan, British publication The Times of London “verified that 237,000 Muslims were exterminated in the Jammu massacre.”

“This villainous operation was orchestrated and supervised by [then] Indian Home Minister Sardar Patel, Defense Minister Baldev Singh, Maharaja of Patiala, and the Maharani of Kashmir,” he said.

“That murderous campaign against Muslims by Hindu extremists continues till this day. In the past 73 years, 500,000 people have lost lives to Indian tyranny and terrorism. We demand justice. We will not rest on our oars until we win freedom for Kashmiris.”