ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: The people of Kashmir staged a protest demonstration in front of Indian High Commission here on Sunday to mark the Indian Republic Day as black day.

The protesters were holding banners and placards and raising slogans against India and in favour of Kashmir freedom movement. They were demanding pullout of the Indian forces from the occupied Kashmir and release of Kashmiri leaders detained in different Indian jails.

The participants started rally from the Foreign Office and held a sit-in in front of the Indian High Commission.

Speaking on the occasion, the former AJK premier, Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhary, called upon the world to take cognizance of the Indian brutalities in occupied Kashmir and force India to stop the barbaric acts there.

Kashmiris, he said, demanded their basic right of self- determination, which was their birth right and accepted by the UN Security Council.

He demanded increase in UN Military Observers at the Line of Control in order to check the Indian aggression.

Criticizing the double standards adopted by United States and Europe, he said the world community should help resolve Kashmir issue as per aspirations of Kashmiri people in order to save the South Asia from proliferation.

He also criticized the statement of Nancy Powell and said this statement was based on confusion.

Sultan Mehmood announced that people of Kashmir all over the world observed February 5 as Kashmir Solidarity Day in order to express solidarity with Kashmiris struggling against Indian occupation.

The APHC convener of AJK Chapter, Syed Yousaf Naseem, criticized the statement of Nancy Powell and said: “She should remember that the Americans also fought for their freedom from United Kingdom.