Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora observes 'black day,' to protest in Netherlands today

The Hague [Netherlands], October 22 : Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) on Saturday will stage a protest in the Netherlands' The Hague on 'black day' to mark 75 years of their mass exodus following a genocidal campaign initiated by terrorists.
The diaspora will start the protest at 11 am in front of the Peace Palace in The Hague. And after about half an hour, the demonstrators will move towards Plain 1813, Willemspark The Hague, according to Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora's press statement.
October 22, 1947, is marked as the darkest day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir when Pakistan launched "Operation Gulmarg" under the command of a serving general of the Pakistan Army Major General Akbar Khan.
In August 1947, when India became independent, Jammu and Kashmir, as one of the princely states were ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh. He did not make any decisions about joining India or Pakistan until the British left on August 15, 1947.
Pakistan started threatening Maharaja Hari Singh. As stated in writing, "the time has come for Maharaja of Kashmir that he must rake his choice and choose Pakistan. If Kashmir fails to join Pakistan, the worst possible problems will inevitably arise."
Believing that Maharaja Hari Singh might go along with India, Pakistan had already decided to take Jammu and Kashmir by force at the end of August 1947, the statement reads.
In fact, Operation Gulmarg, initiated to stop Kashmir from joining India, was conceived as early as August 20, 1947, just 6 days after Pakistan was formed. Pakistan has enlisted its officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and other ranks from its regular army to command a force, composed of demobilized British India Army troops of Pashtuns.
The day the invasion began on October 22, 1947, is termed the darkest day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sudan and other war tribes from North West Frontier Agency (currently Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Major General Akbar Khan became commanders of the operation.
Before the launch of Operation Gulmarg, Pakistan had cut off supplies of essential supplies to the valley; an undertaking in which it succeeded extremely well as most of the state's communication lines ran through that part of Punjab that is now part of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, from early July 1947, Pakistan had infiltrated Poonch, Rajauri, Kat Mirpur, and Naoshera and attacked Hindus and Sikhs.
The formal attack was launched in the early morning of October 22, 1947. While en route to Muzaffarabad, they began looting and killing non-Muslims. Motivated by the concept of jihad and provided with the incitement to loot and rape, the Lashkar did just that in town after town as they made their way to Baramulla. The prosperous town is 50 km west of Srinagar. A large number of women were raped and kidnapped in Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Uri and other places, according to the statement.
The town of Baramulla suffered from the ruthless manners of the looters. A population of 14,000 had been reduced to 3,000 by the time the Kabalis had finished their brutal robbery of the city.
Finally, on the morning of October 27, when the city of Baramulla fell hundreds of Hindu Sikh and even Muslim women had been raped and kidnapped.
Many were taken to Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Jhelum, etc., and other cities of Pakistan to be sold as slaves.
The ultimate goal of these Jihadis was the capture of the capital Srinagar. Failing to protect his people with the limited number of troops available as part of the state forces, the panicked Maharaja Hari Singh appealed to India to come to his aid.
However, India reminded the Maharaja that India could not legally send its troops to Kashmir unless the Maharaja signed the Act of Accession with India.
Accordingly, on October 26, 1947, the Maharaja signed the deed of accession thereby formally and legally joining India, the statement added.
Consequently, the first Indian troops landed in Srinagar on October 27, 1947, defending the most vital piece of ground, namely the area encompassing the north and west of Srinagar airport and also the summer capital of Srinagar itself.
Pakistan's Baramulla push was stopped and reversed from Shalteing, 14 km from Srinagar. Then Baramulla was recaptured on the morning of November 7, 1947, and on November 8, the city of Uri fell.
The Indian army then liberate the long-besieged Poonch and expelled the Pakistani invaders from most parts of Jammu and Kashmir, with the exception of what is today Pakistani-occupied. Jammu and Kashmir.
The chain of events began on October 22, 1947, with the induction of the ugly hand of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan which has continued even to this day. The Hindus of Kashmir, who made up 100 of the Kashmir population before the advent of Islam some 700 years ago, have now been gradually reduced to a microscopic presence. After 1947, Hindus became the target of discrimination and constant threat from the Muslim majority, the statement reads.
The assassination of prominent Hindu leaders took place between September 1989 and eventually the genocide of 350,000 Hindus who fl. their homes, beginning on January 19, 1990 and continuing thereafter, to save their honour and dignity and to escape mass murder by Islamic jihadists.
This horrific migration of a tiny population of Hindus created human rights issues of enormous magnitude. People were forced to abandon their property, lands, businesses and all forms of livelihood just because they were seen as obstacles in the expansionist movement of fundamental Jihad sponsored, aided, and assisted by Pakistan.
It is against this background that the invasion that began on 7 October 1947. It must be seen and regarded as the darkest days in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, the statement added.