The president honors the martyrs of Jammu and reiterates his support for the people of Kashmir.

In his Wednesday remembrance of the Jammu martyrs, President Asif Ali Zardari reaffirmed Pakistan’s steadfast support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their rightful fight for independence.

In his message on Youm-e-Shuhada-e-Jammu (Jammu Martyrs’ Day), the president urged the international community and the UN to recognize the Jammu massacre as genocide and to hold India responsible for its ongoing transgressions of international law, including its attempts to change the demographic makeup of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in violation of the Geneva Conventions.

He said that one of the bloodiest murders in the subcontinent’s history was committed on this day in 1947 by the Hindu Dogra Maharaja’s army, with assistance from RSS zealots and armed groups from Patiala and Kapurthala.

Following the Jammu massacre, more than half a million Muslims fled to districts surrounding Sialkot, and more than 200,000 Muslims were massacred. Through intentional ethnic cleansing, the tragedy of November 6, 1947, transformed Jammu from a Muslim-majority area into a minority in a matter of weeks.

According to President Zardari, the Jammu massacre is among the most horrific episodes in contemporary history. The 1947 genocide of Kashmiri Muslims has never gotten the attention it merits, despite the fact that the world recalls other significant human catastrophes. The extent of the violence was astounding; families were split apart and entire communities were destroyed.

The martyrs of Jammu and the unarmed civilians who were killed for their faith and identity are remembered by Kashmiris worldwide on this day, he said, adding that their sacrifice serves as a sobering reminder of the unresolved history of Jammu and Kashmir, which started with the 1947 forced occupation and continues to this day under India’s illegal rule in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

He noted that the pattern of repression has not changed in seven decades. The Dogra king and RSS fanatics launched a state-sponsored extermination campaign, which later turned into a systematic demographic engineering operation by the Indian government.

He claimed that the repeal of Articles 370 and 35-A in August 2019, the confiscation of land, the influx of foreigners, and the restrictions on Kashmiri identity were all part of a larger plan to eradicate the region’s Muslim identity.

With about a million Indian troops stationed in IIOJK, the occupation is still going strong and has made the area one of the most militarized in the world. As another generation of Kashmiris experiences persecution, displacement, and dispossession, the world must turn a blind eye,” the president continued.

Pakistan will keep offering the people of Kashmir its unwavering political, diplomatic, and moral support. We support them in their fight for freedom, justice, and dignity.