Pakistan Reaffirms Support for Kashmiris on ‘Black Day,’ Says Punjab Law Minister

By Muhammad Shahzad
LAHORE, Pakistan will continue to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their struggle for self-determination, Punjab’s Minister for Law Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan said on Monday, as the country observed “Kashmir Black Day” to mark what it calls India’s illegal occupation of the disputed territory in 1947.

Speaking at a provincial event in Lahore, Khan said October 27, 1947, remains the “darkest day in the history of the subcontinent,” when India “forcibly occupied the State of Jammu and Kashmir” in violation of international law and the principles of the subcontinent’s partition.

He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had “never accepted India’s illegal occupation” and have continued their decades-long struggle for freedom despite “severe oppression and human rights abuses.”

The minister noted that under the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the provincial government was organizing rallies, seminars, and solidarity events across the province to honor the sacrifices of Kashmiris and raise awareness among youth about their right to self-determination.

“Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan,” Khan said, describing the freedom movement of the Kashmiri people as a “just, legal, and moral struggle that deserves international recognition.”

He called on the United Nations and the broader international community to implement its resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that the people of the region are granted their “birthright to self-determination.”

Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan reaffirmed Pakistan’s “unwavering diplomatic and moral support” to the Kashmiri people, pledging that Islamabad would continue to raise the issue at all international forums until their “voice for justice and freedom is heard.”