28, Oct 2015

A strike called by separatists on the 68th anniversary of the arrival of Indian troops in Kashmir shut the Valley on Tuesday. The first batch of Indian troops from Sikh regiment’s first battalion was airlifted to Srinagar on October 27, 1947, after Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession. It was supported by Kashmir’s legendary leader Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah.
While claiming India forcibly occupied Jammu and Kashmir on the pretext of the Maharaja’s seeking its military assistance to push back the Pakistani tribal raiders, various separatist parties had called for observing “black day” on the anniversary of the Indian Army’s arrival. They also, like some historians, allege that sending in Indian troops had been planned days before they actually arrived at the Srinagar airport.
The J&K policemen and CRPF personnel fanned out overnight and patrolled the streets to hold back protests by separatists. Also, key separatist leaders, including Mr Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mr Mirwaiz Farooq, were placed under house arrest ahead of the observance of “black day.” In overnight raids, the police held activists owing allegiance to various separatist outfits. In New York, Kashmiri-Americans held a “Million-Man-March” to press for “a just and durable resolution of the longstanding Kashmir dispute.” The marchstarted outside the Indian high commission office and concluded at the UN building.
These separatist leaders have in their statements urged the United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to persuade India and Pakistan to initiate positive steps towards seeking an amicable solution of the Kashmir issue or alternatively pave the way for implementation of the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. Mr Geelani has also demanded that a special UN envoy on Kashmir be appointed at the earliest.
In New York, Kashmiri-Americans held a “Million-Man-March” to press for “a just and durable resolution of the longstanding Kashmir dispute.” The march, which was attended by several visiting Kashmiri leaders from PoK and their supporters, started outside the Indian high commission office and concluded at the United Nations building.