MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 5: Hundreds of people rallied in different parts of Azad Kashmir on Monday to mark Jan 5 as "right to self determination day" whereas a pro-independence party observed "black day" to protest the limited choice to Kashmiris.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Jan 5 1949, granting right of self determination to Kashmiris to choose India or Pakistan for accession of their divided state through a plebiscite.

"Kashmiris have been offering sacrifices since 1947 for their internationally acknowledged right to self determination and they will not accept any other solution," AJK minister Raja Abdul Qayyum told a public meeting held at the Central Press Club under the aegis of the Kashmir Liberation Cell.

"We will not budge from our stand on self determination," senior minister Syed Mumtaz Gillani said on the occasion.

Both ministers maintained that Kashmiris would not accept any solution against their aspirations. They also criticized India for adhering to a false claim on Kashmir, urging it to face ground realities and let the Kashmiris exercise their internationally acknowledged right for an amicable settlement of the decades old dispute.

Later, the participants marched toward the office of the UN Military Observers where a memorandum was delivered. Official sources said similar rallies were held in the southern AJK towns of Mirpur, Bhimber and Kotli.