Loading…

Solidarity walks were held across Pakistan on Wednesday as the country observed ‘Day of Exploitation in Kashmir’ to mark the first anniversary of India’s scrapping of Kashmir’s autonomy. Addressing a rally in the capital city of Islamabad, Pakistan's President Arif Alvi condemned Indian Kashmir's change of status, and demanded that the changes made in Indian Kashmir in violation of the UN resolutions and the Geneva Convention should be reversed.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday unveiled what he called "the latest political map of Pakistan" that included the India-controlled portion of Kashmir labelled as "India Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir".

Last August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government stripped India's only Muslim-majority state of its special rights.

The government said the change was necessary to develop the strife-torn region and integrate it with the rest of India but it infuriated many Kashmiris and neighboring Pakistan.

Some critics saw it as part of a pattern by the Hindu-nationalist government aimed at sidelining Muslims.

The government denies that.

The change in status in Indian Kashmir was accompanied by a communication blackout, widespread restrictions and mass detentions, including of elected leaders.

Kashmir is claimed in full by India and Pakistan, which have gone to war twice over it, and both rule parts of it.

Militants have been fighting Indian rule in its part of Kashmir since 1989 in a conflict that has killed at least 50,000 dead, according to official figures.

(Source: Reuters)

Original Article Source: Press TV | Published on Wednesday, 05 August 2020 13:44 (about 1330 days ago)