ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday solemnly observed Jammu Martyrs’ Day to pay homage to the victims of the horrific Jammu massacre of November 6, 1947 — a day remembered as one of the darkest and most tragic chapters in South Asian history.
In separate messages issued on the occasion, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif paid rich tribute to the martyrs and reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for self-determination.
President Zardari described the Jammu massacre — in which more than 200,000 Muslims were brutally killed and over half a million forced to flee — as one of the most horrifying episodes of violence in the region’s history.
He said the tragedy was a “premeditated attempt to annihilate the Muslim population of Jammu,” carried out by Dogra forces, RSS elements, and armed mobs.
Calling it “one of the darkest chapters of modern history,” the President regretted that the international community had failed to acknowledge the scale of the atrocity or to address the suffering of its victims.
“The sacrifices of the Kashmiri people remind us that the story of Jammu and Kashmir remains incomplete,” President Zardari said, reaffirming Pakistan’s unwavering solidarity with Kashmiris.
“Pakistan stands shoulder to shoulder with the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for justice, dignity, and freedom,” he added.
He strongly condemned India’s abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A, terming it a “dangerous plan” aimed at altering the demographic composition of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Such measures, he said, are a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, in his message, termed November 6, 1947, the “darkest day in Kashmir’s history,” describing it as the “first massive genocide” of Kashmiris perpetrated by Indian forces and extremist elements.
He said that over 237,000 Muslims were massacred in an attempt to change the demographic and religious composition of the region — a policy he noted continues even today through India’s unilateral actions of August 5, 2019.
“The illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and the denial of Kashmiris’ right to self-determination are blatant violations of international law and United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the Prime Minister said.
He praised the “exceptional courage and unwavering determination” of the Kashmiri people, who have continued their struggle for freedom despite decades of Indian oppression.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to continue raising the Kashmir issue at every international forum until a just and lasting solution is achieved in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
Both leaders called upon the international community to take cognizance of India’s ongoing human rights violations in IIOJK and to play its due role in ending the suffering of the Kashmiri people.
Background
The Jammu massacre of November 1947 occurred shortly after the partition of British India. Thousands of Muslims were killed or forced to migrate to Pakistan in a campaign widely regarded as an attempt to alter the Muslim-majority character of the region.
The tragedy remains a defining event in the history of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, symbolizing the Kashmiri people’s enduring struggle for justice, dignity, and freedom.
There is no independent, universally accepted figure for how many Kashmiris have been “martyred” since 1947 in the struggle for self-determination.
However, according to reports from Kashmiri advocacy groups and media outlets aligned with the pro-Kashmir narrative, the estimates include approximately 96,262 people martyred from January 1989 up to October 27, 2023, according to the Kashmir Media Service (KMS).
A more recent KMS report claims that “nearly 450,000 Kashmiris have laid down their lives over the past 78 years” in the freedom struggle.
