The Jammu and Kashmir National Front has described the 27th as the darkest day in the history of Kashmir, saying that the attack on Kashmir by the Indian Army was the most brutal incident that plunged the region into a quagmire of instability and violence. In a statement, JKNF spokesperson Muhammad Haseeb Wani said that October 27 was the day when the so-called secular leaders of India rushed their troops towards Srinagar in the dark of night and usurped the Kashmiris' political and democratic rights they themselves struggled for while fighting against the Britishers". He said India's claim to Kashmir rested on a fake document of accession allegedly signed by the Maharaja. Quoting British historian, Alastair Lamb, he said the author had made it clear in his book that the " Accession Document" was just a myth. The spokesperson of JKNF said that India's continuous refusal to grant the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people was the main cause and consequence of death and destruction in the region. He said that "900,000 Indian military and paramilitary personnel deployed across Kashmir are brutally targeting hapless unarmed Kashmiris".

He further said that during the last three decades alone, more than one lakh Kashmiris have been killed by the Indian occupation forces. He said that on the one hand, India has backed away from the promises it had made regarding the resolution of the lingering dispute, while on the other hand, its imperialist designs in the region pose a serious existential threat to Kashmiris. He said that the Modi government's move of August 5 has pushed the region further into chaos and lawlessness. Urging the Indian government to abandon its policy of intransigence, he said dialogue was the only way forward for finding a just and lasting settlement of the long-drawn-out conflict. He made it clear to India that the so-called election is not the solution to the Kashmir problem, but lasting peace can be established in the region only by implementing the resolutions of the United Nations and allowing the Kashmiri people to exercise their birth right, the right to self determination.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan