Kashmir Black Day observed in Egypt

CAIRO: The Pakistan Embassy in Cairo observed Kashmir Black Day on its premises to commemorate the 72-year history of landing of the Indian occupation forces in Jammu and Kashmir and to highlight the illegal occupation and continuous human rights violations there.

A large number of intellectuals, journalists, students, members of Pakistan-Egypt Friendship Association and Pakistani community notables attended the event. Three short documentaries focused on the recent developments in the Indian Occupied Kashmir were screened on the occasion.

The students of Pakistan International School of Cairo (PISC) presented a tableau, portraying the suffering of Kashmiris. A student of Al-Azhar University, Adil Mahmoud, read out a poem on Kashmir with Urdu translation.

President of the Egyptian-Pakistani Friendship Association Ambassador Fathi Yousuf stressed that escalation of tension in the region as a result of India’s decision to abolish Kashmir's special autonomous status posed a threat to regional peace and security.

He called on India to listen to the voice of wisdom and urged the Muslim countries to extend all support to the people of Kashmir in the face of Indian repression. Prominent journalist and Deputy Chief Editor of Al-Gamhouri Sayed El-Hany stressed that the Kashmir struggle, recognized by several resolutions of the UN Security Council, was legitimate and not terrorism and that it was India that had ignored the UNSC resolutions on Kashmiris’ right to self-determination and also the OIC resolutions calling for sending a fact-finding mission to the IOK.

Strategic analyst Maj. Gen. Gamal Mazloum talked about the scenarios of future events in the light of fresh Indian escalation and warned against military confrontation between the two nuclear countries.

Director Farabi Center for Studies Professor Medhat Hammad expressed belief that resistance was the option left for the people of Kashmir, as India continued to ignore the resolutions of international legitimacy and forcibly suppress the Kashmiri people.

Professor Ibrahim Muhammad Ibrahim of Al-Azhar University decried India’s insistence to deprive the people of Kashmir of their right to freedom and self-determination as guaranteed by the Charter of the United Nations to all peoples. He stressed the importance of the media role in publicizing the just cause of Kashmiris in light of the Indian media's control of several media channels.

South Asia expert Samir Hussain said India's recent escalation in the IOK was part of the economic struggle among world powers over promising economic development axes in light of the Pakistan-China partnership in the economic corridor which was an important part of the Silk Road revival project.

He stressed that the jihad of Kashmiri people complied with the relevant UN resolutions, which affirmed their inalienable right to self-determination and which India continued to dodge. Highlighting the historical background of the struggle, the Ambassador of Pakistan to Egypt Mushtaq Ali Shah said the unconstitutional and illegal changes in the status of the IOK by the Indian government would herald the decisive phase of struggle of Kashmiri people; however, its full impact would be visible only after lifting of curfew clamped down by India for more than 80 days. He said neither would the people capitulate to repression nor would Pakistan abandon the cause of its Kashmiri brethren.