Jammu: Hundreds of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) refugees gathered at Vikram Chowk in the Jammu city under the banner of SOS International (an organisation of PoK displaced persons) to observe Black Day on Thursday.
Black Day is observed on October 22 every year to mark Pakistan’s invasion of Kashmir in 1947. On this day, (two months after India’s partition), Lashkars armed with axes, swords and guns backed by Pakistan Army attacked Jammu and Kashmir and unleashed atrocities on men, women and children, according to the Indian Army.
“We are observing Black Day today. Pakistan committed grave atrocities and killed thousands in 1947. Pakistan is giving our land to China for China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). PoK is ours and Pakistan can not give it to China. India should go to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan for 1947 killings,” said Rajiv Chuni, President, SOS International while talking to ANI.
Kundan Lal Sharma, a participant in the gathering to observe the Black Day, said he still can not forget the atrocities committed by Pakistan on their grandparents.
“I was born here in Jammu. My grandparents were living in PoK. They told us about the grave injustice committed by Pakistan against us. We are refugees. At Vikaram Chowk, we are observing Black Day under the leadership of SOS international president Rajiv Chuni,” he said.
“The attrocities committed on the people by Pakistan is beyond imagination. The pain is still within us. They raped women and killed children for no reason,” he added.
The protesters also raised slogans against the Pakistan government and Pakistan Army.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha addressed the two days ‘National Symposium’ being organised by National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology in collaboration with the Union Territory Government of Jammu and Kashmir on October 22 and October 23, 2020.
“We all must not forget how Pakistan attacked people of Muzaffarabad (PoK) on October 22, 1947. Thousands of men, women and children were mercilessly killed. Also, we must not forget the sacrifices made by the people of Kashmir in the fight against Pakistan,” Sinha said in his address.
According to organisers of the event, on October 22, 1947, Pakistan invaded Kashmir and brought in its wake horrifying stories of mass plunder and vandalism.