IT was on this day today more than seven decades ago that the Indian government in connivance with Dogra Raj seized the Jammu and Kashmir valley, and the occupation has continued to date. Jan 26 is celebrated as the ‘Republic Day’ in India when the fact is that it is a Black Day which reminds of the time when the fate of hapless Kashmiris was sealed by the occupying Indian forces.

Millions, if not billions, have embraced martyrdom for independence. What is more worrying is nothing else but the question of self-determination, something that has been proclaimed by the United Nations. Still the situation is deteriorating day by day as there were 229 killings in the valley in the first half of 2020 alone.

The United Nations champions the cause of human rights around the world, and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) claims to be a platforms for Muslims around the world, and yet both these entities have turned a deaf year to the atrocities being committed in the occupied Kashmir. It is time the government in Pakistan started officially observing Jan 26 as a Black Day to show solidarity with their Kashmiri brethren.

Usman Ghani
Quetta

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2021