QUETTA: A ‘black day’ was obser­ved across Balochistan on Tuesday to exp­r­e­ss solidarity with the people of Kashmir.

Protest rallies and demonstrations were held in Quetta, Dera Murad Jamali, Sibi, Loralai, Gwadar, Turbat, Khuzdar, Nushki, Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Pishin, Zhob, Duki, Bolan, Jhal Magsi and other towns of Balochistan. A large number of people participated in the rallies.

Participants of the rallies said they would stage more demonstrations to draw the attention of the international community towards the plight of the people locked down in the occupied valley. Illegal occupation of Kashmir by India was a clear violation of the United Nations charter and human rights laws, they said.

They said they would always stand with the Kashmiri people and express support for their right to self-determination under the UN resolutions.

In his message, Chief Minister Jam Kamal said that Kashmir was never a part of India and New Delhi would never succeed in establishing its control over the occupied valley against the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

The chief minister said 22 million Pakistanis and Kashmiris from all over the world, including on both sides of the Line of Control, observed October 27 as ‘black day’.

“India will never succeed in denying the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri Muslims. Aspirations of the people can never be suppressed by use of force,” he said.

Speaking at a rally in Quetta, Home Minister Mir Zia Langove said the fascist Narendra Modi government had stripped occupied Kashmir of its special status on August 5 last year, and since then there had been a strict lockdown and communications blackout in the valley.

The people of Pakistan would stand with their Kashmiri brethren until they obtained freedom from India’s illegal occupation, he added.

Mr Langove said that the Indian government’s move of revoking special status of Kashmir had unveiled the ugly face of New Delhi.

Sardarzada Mir Umair Mohammad Hasani, who heads an organisation on Kashmir affairs, led a rally which marched on various roads of the provincial capital. The participants of the rally carried Kashmiri flag and placards and chanted slogans against India.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2020