India has no right to observe Republic Day in Kashmir: United Jihad Council

United Jihad Council (UJC), a conglomerate of various militant outfits, Lashkar-e-Toyiba (LeT) and pro-freedom parties Dukhtaran-e-Millat and National Front have appealed people to observe January 26, the Republic Day of India, as “black day”.
UJC said this would attract the world community towards the deteriorating situation in Kashmir.
A local news agency KNS quoted UJC chief Syed Salahuddin as saying in a statement that “India has illegally occupied Kashmir in 1947 and is using brutal tactics to suppress the ongoing movement.”
“In seventy years, India has killed over five lakh Kashmiris while properties worth millions were set ablaze and thousands of youth were disappeared and buried in unknown graves,” the UJC chief said, adding, “The hands of Indian authorities are soaked with the blood of Kashmiris and at the same time celebrating its Republic Day is a joke with humanity and democracy.”
Lashkar-e-Toyiba (LeT) chief Mehmood Shah while asking people to observe January 26 as “black day” said New Delhi has jeopardised the freedom of Kashmiris for the last seven decades.
LeT spokesperson Dr Abdullah Ghaznavi in a statement issued to a local news agency GNS quoted the outfit chief as saying that “more than 5 lakh innocent Kashmiris have been martyred since Indian forces illegally occupied Jammu Kashmir”.
“The honour of thousands of mothers and daughters of the nation has been violated, thousands of young Kashmiris have been crippled for life; Hurriyat leaders are often harassed, arrested and even martyred so as to sabotage the indigenous freedom struggle,” Ghaznavi quoted Shah as saying.
He added, “India is plotting new vicious plans on the advent of the Republic Day (Black Day). Those committed to the freedom struggle are being threatened and some youth are forced on gunpoint to speak in favour of India on the Day in Srinagar. We are well aware of such plots.”
Lashkar said “martyrs are our mentors and we will never let anyone hurt their heirs”.
Shah appealed to world humanitarian organisations to take notice of India’s “severe human rights violations and atrocities” in Jammu Kashmir.
The chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) Syeda Aasiya Andrabi asked people to hoist black flags on their rooftops and observe January 26 as “black day”.
“This will once again send a message to the world that India has illegally occupied J&K and the people here protest and resent its presence by all means,” Andrabi said in a statement.
She said that by observing the “black day”, people will fail the “false claims made by India and its puppets regarding the status of Jammu and Kashmir”.
“So far, people of Kashmir have given tremendous sacrifices and are ready to sacrifice everything but won’t stop from struggling against the illegal Indian rule,” Aasiya said. “India will celebrate its Republic Day on Jan 26 but for Kashmir and Kashmiris, Indian Republic Day or Independence Day are always the days of tremendous sufferings and harassment.”
“For Kashmiris, this day brings along death, fear and destruction. What kind of a Republic is it that you occupy a nation using 10 lakh forces and claim of being a democracy? This is worse than an autocracy and is a blot on democracy,” she said.
The DeM chief said Kashmir has been turned into a military garrison and for the past few days, India and its forces have used all means to torture and harass people. “Crackdowns are being held, frisking has become a norm and every now and then people are being ill-treated,” she said.
“If India claims that Kashmir is its ‘integral’ part, then why is every Kashmir being subjected to so much brutality and why these forces have made the life a hell in Kashmir; why isn’t the same situation being found in India?”
“This once again proves that people of Jammu and Kashmir do not want to stay with India. They don’t even remotely relate themselves with the Indian Republic Day,” Aasiya said.
In a statement, Jammu Kashmir National Front while appealing people to follow the programme announced by the joint resistance leadership (JRL) said India has no right to celebrate its national festivals in the disputed region.
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir are yet to decide their political future so India must follow the principles of democracy and respect the disputed nature of Jammu Kashmir,” NF said in a statement.
The party strongly condemned the arrest spree and harassment of people ahead of the January 26. It also condemned the arrest of JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik, senior resistance leaders Bilal Sidiqui, Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar, Mohammad Yasin Attai and dozens of other leaders and activists.