AUGUST 5 is yet another black day in the history of Indian occupied Kashmir. This is the date when the RSS-inspired Modi-led fascist Indian government went one step ahead in its atrocities against the people of Kashmir by revoking Article 370 and Article 35-A, reducing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

For the last seven decades the people of the annexed valley have been subjected to every brutality and inhuman oppression by Indian occupation troops. But the Kashmiri people on the other hand are determined to be free of New Delhi’s yoke. In the process the occupation forces daily unleash atrocities that would put the Nazis to shame. But it is only a matter of time.

The writing on the wall is crystal clear. Sooner or later, the Indian security forces will have to leave the territory that New Delhi occupied by deceit and stealth and has continued to rule by brutality and lies. Self-determination is the Kashmiri people’s right. To date, the besieged valley has proved to be a hard nut for the more than a million man strong Indian army.

Instead of playing the role of silent spectators, the international community should act to free the Kashmiri people from India’s clutches.

Muhammad Fayyaz Nawrha

Mianwali

(2)

PAKISTAN will never allow India to usurp the rights of the Kashmiri people and will always stand with them in their quest for freedom. On Aug 5, 2019, the BJP leadership abrogated article 370 and 35A, which had bestowed special status on the Kashmiri people.

The BJP move stripped the autonomy Indian occupied Kashmir had enjoyed for seven decades and also divided Kashmir into two union territories.

I feel Islamabad needs to do much more for the Kashmiri people. The government needs to mobilise international opinion in favour of the Kashmiri people. It should tell the world that New Delhi in endangering world peace and its own integrity by its obdurity of clinging on to Kashmir. The United Nations needs to move fast to resolve an issue that has been on its plate since 1948!

Ghazanfar Soomro

Shikarpur

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2020