ISLAMABAD, Senior APHC-AJK leader, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, underscored the annual observation of 27th October as “Black Day”, marking it as a protest against India’s incursion and subsequent annexation of a section of Jammu and Kashmir. The action, he emphasized, stripped the Kashmiri people of their fundamental right to self-determination.

According to a news release by Kashmir Media Service, the leader contended that India blatantly disregarded the UN Security Council resolutions which called for a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir. Rehmani noted India’s decision to repeal Articles 370 and 35A—provisions which had previously granted Kashmir a distinct status—as a breach of its own Constitution.

He also highlighted the detainment of thousands of Kashmiris, including Hurriyat leaders, in various Indian prisons spanning several decades as an attempt to stifle potential mass uprisings.

Challenging India’s intent in the region, Rehmani questioned the necessity of its outsized military deployment in Kashmir, which reportedly comprises over nine hundred thousand personnel armed with state-of-the-art weapons, backed by an expansive intelligence infrastructure.

Rehmani was also critical of the Modi government’s policies and actions, including the alteration of the longstanding permanent state resident law. He asserted that this change, which granted domicile certificates to more than three million non-state Indian nationals, was an attempt to shift the demographic balance of Jammu and Kashmir.

Drawing parallels with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani warned of potential strategies by India in Kashmir that mirror Israeli actions in Palestine, with the objective of erasing the region’s distinct identity.