PESHAWAR: Protest rallies were held across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to observe Oct 27 as black day and condemn the Indian illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.
The participants of the rallies demanded the UN Security Council to implement its resolutions in order to end the bloodshed in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir and give the oppressed people their right to self-determination.
In Peshawar, the rallies were organised under the aegis of business community, transporters, culture and tourism authority, Tanzeem-i-Asateza Pakistan, Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar, district administration and population welfare department at different places. Members of the minority communities also participated in these rallies.
The participants were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the Indian government. The people also burnt Indian flags.
Expressing solidarity with Kashmiris, they recalled that on October 27, 1947, the sufferings of Kashmiri people started with the landing of Indian occupation troops in Jammu and Kashmir, which had been further increased after Modi’s fascist government abolished the special status of Kashmir by revoking Articles 370 and 35-A of Indian constitution on August 5, 2019.
A rally arranged by population welfare department, Peshawar district, was addressed by Mohammad Aleem and Kashif Fida while the protest demonstration held by the business community was led by Tajir Ittehad Peshawar president Mujeebur Rehman.
The teachers rally near Nauthia Bazaar was led by Tanzeem-i-Asateza Pakistan central office-bearers, including Misbahul Islam, Sikandar Khan Yousufzai and Abdul Hameed Qureshi.
Provincial ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Kamran Bangash, Peshawar deputy commissioner Shafiullah Khan and Kashmiri leader Daud Khan also led a procession from the Chief Minister’s House to the Governor’s House.
Similarly, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority along with the Directorate of Sports held a rally at the Peshawar Sports Complex to condemn the Indian atrocities and show solidarity with the Kashmiris.
KPCTA director general Bakhtiar Khan, director admin and finance Khurshid Alam, director women sports Rashida Ghaznavi, administrator Jafar Shah and their employees participated in the rally.
Talking to mediapersons, Bakhtiar Khan said that India was committing atrocities in occupied Kashmir for the last 75 years. “We stand with the oppressed Kashmiris for their freedom and we will support them till achievement of the goal,” he said.
Kashmir is Pakistan and Pakistan is Kashmir, and they cannot be separated, he added.
The participants of the rally raised slogans in support of the Kashmiri brethren and against Indian atrocities. They demanded of the international community to pressurise India to end its brutalities in the occupied Kashmir.
Rallies were also held in Abbottabad, Haripur, Dir, Kohat, Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan, Shangla, Nowshera, Mansehra, Bajaur, Lakki Marwat and Malakand where people belonging to different walks of life participated and expressed solidarity with the Kashmiris.
Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2022
