Kashmiris all over the world observed "Black Day" -- the day India invaded Kashmir 49 years ago. On 27^th October 1947, India deployed its troops in Kashmir and to this day they continue to occupy a major part of Kashmir. India had proclaimed that it will restore normalcy in the state and allow the people to exercise the right of self-determination in accordance with their freely expressed will, unhindered by any threat of internal disorder or external aggression. India has done the exact opposite.

Those who have followed developments in Kashmir know that the present struggle for freedom began in 1931. People came out in open revolt against the autocratic and tyrannical Dogra regime. They were on the brink of overthrowing the regime when India moved in to save it in 1947. India has since tried to gradually strengthen its grip over Kashmir by means, fair and foul, unmindful of its constitutional commitment that the future of the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be determined by the people in a UN supervised plebiscite.

From October 1989, the crisis in Indian-Occupied Kashmir hit a downward spiral. There were two reasons for this. First, demand for a UN supervised plebiscite gained widespread support among a vast majority of Kashmiris; second, Indian military presence has increased substantially. By deploying well over 600,000 troops to "control" the population, and to "silence" every individual voice of protest, New Delhi has resorted to the most extreme tactics, including: razing entire neighbourhoods, mass arrests, torturing and murdering suspected male residents above the age of 13 (resulting in the disappearance of an entire generation of young Kashmiri men), assassinating suspected supporters of freedom fighters, raping thousands of women, burning houses and shops belonging to suspected sympathisers, pillaging hundreds of villagers, and embargos on external assistance including medicine and food supplies.

"Srinagar [capital of Kashmir] is full of mothers without sons, and young Kashmiri boys, really are an endangered species," wrote Dr. Paula R. Newberg in Double Betrayal: Repression and Insurgency in Kashmir, Published by The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C.."New Delhi has managed quite effectively to limit knowledge about Kashmir to limit external pressure to solve its problems."

India's death-squads continue to target the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leadership. In recent months the government-sponsored hit-squads have widened their scope to include intellectuals. Assassination attempts on the lives of APHC leaders and other activists is escalating.

Its latest attempt to delude public opinion, India's recent four­phase fraudulent "elections" in Indian­Occupied Kashmir for the so­called State Legislature Assembly, turned out to be a complete failure. It only served to further alienate the people of Kashmir from the forces of occupation.

The message India wanted to send to the world was that after seven years of mass uprising, it has obtained a popular mandate from the people of Kashmir and with this it now has legitimacy to extend its control over Jammu and Kashmir. India can hope all it wants but this dream appears to be totally elusive.

The people of Kashmir overwhelmingly rejected last month's (September) "elections" simply because less than two per cent of the electorate participated in it. The almost total boycott can only be interpreted one way -- an unequivocal rejection of Indian rule in Kashmir.

Informed Canadians can play a vital role in the education process by creating a dialogue with parliamentarians and the media. Besides, concerned Canadians can write to the Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and call or write to the Prime Minister or Minister of Foreign Affairs to voice their concerns about the escalating violence in Kashmir.

The objective for which the people of Kashmir are struggling is just and for that reason it deserves the support of all those who cherish justice and peace.

(An edited version of the statement of Mr. Mushtaq A. Jeelani, Executive Director, Kashmiri-Canadian Council (KCC), on occasion of the 49^th year of Indian occupation of Kashmir).