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The United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP) holds seminars in various parts of the world to mark October 22 as `Black Day' in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.
On October 22, 1947, Kashmir witnessed a horrific turning point when the Pashtun tribal militia, accompanied by the Pakistan Army, launched "Operation Gulmarg" to occupy a large portion of J-K. Seminars were organised in Leeds city of the United Kingdom and Calgary city in Canada. The speakers highlighted the atrocities the people of PoK and Gilgit Baltistan have been facing since the Pakistani invasion and the forceful occupation of their territories. Rasheed Yousaf advocate, the President of UKPNP North America said that the people in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have been facing state atrocities and the political activists are being arrested as they demand their rights. "Is this a crime if you are asking for the rights of your motherland from an occupier", said Adv Rasheed while lamenting on Pakistan. At the end of British colonial rule in August 1947, there were 562 princely states in the united India. Britain used to have control over these states but never interfered in their internal matters. They were ruled by local kings or nawabs. At the time of independence, these states were given the option to join India or Pakistan or remain independent. Most of them joined India, while some joined Pakistan. Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir was one of those princely states which delayed its decision to join either of them. J-K ruler Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu, did not make a decision to join India or Pakistan until October 1947. Pakistan was impatient and wanted to seize the state by any means. That's why it launched "Operation Gulmarg" to occupy J-K. When Srinagar faced a direct threat from Pakistani invaders, J-K ruler Raja Hari Singh asked for India's help and signed the accession treaty on October 26, 1947. Indian troops entered J-K, which is now legally a part of India, on October 27, 1947, and liberated the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. Pakistan was able to hold its authority in the area now called Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) as well as the Gilgit-Balitistan region after the establishment of the Line of Control (LOC), which separates the Indian side of Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It is a fact that India had acquired J-K through legal means while Pakistan took control of some portion of Kashmir through illegal and violent means. (ANI)
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