• Right to Self-Determination Day on Thursday
• Disappearance of youth in custody triggers protests
Srinagar, January 03 (KMS): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and the world over will observe January 5 on Thursday as Right to Self-Determination Day to remind the international community of its obligations on Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, call for observance of the day has been given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Protest demonstrations, rallies, seminars and other programs will be held in occupied Kashmir, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan and in all major capitals of the world to draw world’s attention towards the sufferings of the Kashmiri people because of the unfulfilled promise of plebiscite made to them by the international community.
It was on 5th January in 1949 when the UN Security Council passed a historic resolution stating that the question of accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite.
Meanwhile, the disappearance of another innocent Kashmiri youth in the custody of Indian army prompted the family members and relatives to stage a protest demonstration in Kunanposhpora area of Kupwara, today. The youth, Abdul Rasheed, was arrested by Indian army during a house raid in December 2022 and subjected to custodial disappearance. It is believed that the army has killed him and is waiting for an appropriate time to show his body after a fake encounter as it has done in many cases in the past. The protesters shouted slogans like “Gunda Gardi nahee chalegee”, “Thanashahee nahee chalegi” and “We Want Justice”.
Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party chief, Mehbooba Mufti, in a statement in Srinagar criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party for making Jammu and Kashmir ‘a Godse’s nation’ because of its hate policies. Godse is referred to a Hindu nationalist, Nathuram Vinayak Godse, who influenced by Hindutva ideology assassinated Karamchand Mohandas Gandhi in New Delhi on 30 January 1948. Mehbooba Mufti while regretting the recent killing of four Hindus by unidentified persons in Dhangri area of Rajouri district took a swipe at the BJP and said, Muslims die every day in IIOJK but whenever a Hindu is killed, an issue is made and hate is spread all across India.
Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman of World Forum for Peace and Justice, in a statement issued in Washington said that digital trucks will move on the streets of Washington and New York on Thursday to highlight the Kashmir dispute as well as the atrocities being committed by the Indian troops in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. KMS