Srinagar, Kashmiris across the Line of Control (LoC) and globally are set to mark the 27th of October, tomorrow, as Black Day. This observance aims to highlight India’s unlawful occupation of their territory and the contravention of their collective wishes.

According to a news release by Kashmir Media Service, a total shutdown will be observed in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Concurrently, protest marches, rallies, and seminars are slated to be organized in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, and around the world. These events are intended to decry the intrusion of the territory by the Indian Army on 27th October 1947 and the subsequent revocation of the special status of occupied Kashmir by the Narendra Modi-led Indian government on August 5, 2019. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has issued the call for this observance.

Detained leaders from APHC, including its Chairman Massarat Alam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, and Nayeem Ahmed Khan, have implored Kashmiris to signal to the global community their unwavering commitment to attain freedom from what they term as “Indian subjugation.” They have also appealed to the international community to address the Kashmir dispute and scrutinize the alleged grave human rights breaches and political subjugation inflicted upon the people of occupied Kashmir. The leaders emphasized the urgency for tangible actions to persuade New Delhi to acknowledge and grant the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination, aligning with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Other prominent APHC figures and several Hurriyat entities have reinforced these sentiments, urging worldwide entities to press India to cease alleged acts of state violence in IIOJK.

In the run-up to the Black Day, posters have emerged in various regions including Srinagar, Baramulla, and Pulwama, beseeching the populace to join the shutdown. These posters, credited to multiple organizations such as APHC, Jammu and Kashmir Political Resistance Movement, and others, label the events of 27th October 1947 as a grim phase in Jammu and Kashmir’s history. These visuals have also gained traction on various social media platforms.

To provide a historical context, on the 27th of October in 1947, Indian military forces entered Jammu and Kashmir, an action viewed by many as a stark deviation from the Subcontinent’s Partition Plan. This maneuver led to India’s disputed occupation of the region, against the prevailing sentiments of the Kashmiri people.