Pakistan reaffirmed solidarity with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), observing ‘black day’ on Wednesday on the occasion of India’s Republic Day.
“Today, when the Kashmiris in IIOJK and around the world mark 26 January as a black day against India’s oppression, the government and people of Pakistan reaffirm their unshakable resolve to continue to raise their voice and extend all possible support for the right to self-determination of the people of IIOJK,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson lamented that Indian forces, in the past few days, had intensified the military siege in place in the occupied territory for more than seven decades.
He observed that coercing innocent Kashmiris to hoist Indian flags on Republic Day was “typical of India’s high-handedness to project a false sense of normalcy and a hopeless attempt at masking its systematic and widespread oppression.”
“The Indian government’s decision to award so-called gallantry awards to the personnel of its occupation forces is yet another affront to the dignity of the countless victims of India’s state-terrorism characterised by gross human rights violations, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, suspension of fundamental freedoms, rape, and the use of draconian laws such as Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Public Safety Act with complete impunity,” .
