Azad Kashmir premier calls 27 October state's darkest day
Iftikhar Gilani marks Black Day with a message on 1947 and repeats his hope that the whole of Jammu and Kashmir will join Pakistan.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir's prime minister, Iftikhar Gilani, has described 27 October 1947 as the darkest day in the history of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, in a message issued as Pakistan marked the anniversary as Black Day, Express News reported. In Brussels, Pakistan's ambassador Rahim Hayat Qureshi inaugurated a photo exhibition at the Pakistani embassy to mark the occasion, according to UrduPoint.
Gilani said the date was the blackest in the state's history because, in his account, India took control of Kashmir that day. He paid tribute to the Kashmiri people's struggle, their sacrifices and their determination, Express News said.
In the message, the AJK prime minister said the people of Indian-administered Kashmir had kept the flame of freedom alight despite Indian action, and that their commitment was being carried from one generation to the next. He saluted their steadfastness and courage, and said Indian measures had not weakened their resolve.
He expressed the hope that, God willing, the whole of the state of Jammu and Kashmir would one day become part of Pakistan.
The observance recalls the events of late October 1947, when the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir signed an instrument of accession with India and Indian troops were flown into Srinagar. India and Pakistan each claim the former princely state in full and administer parts of it.
Pakistan marks the date every year with official statements and events at its missions abroad. Express News carried Gilani's message; UrduPoint reported the exhibition at the Pakistani embassy in Brussels, which Qureshi inaugurated, without giving further detail on what was displayed.
Neither report carried comment from Indian officials on the statements.
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