Amid the ongoing crisis in Gaza and Lebanon, where more than 50,000 lives have been lost as a result of Israeli military aggression, the United Nation's inability to enforce a cease-fire, the international media’s indifference to the Gazan genocide and calls highlighting the failure of the international global system in ensuring international peace, the Kashmiris are once again observing Oct. 27 as a "Black Day," marking the illegal invasion of Jammu and Kashmir by Indian forces in 1947.

Oct. 27 is a bleak reminder that Kashmiris continue to languish under foreign occupation, awaiting the fulfillment of the promises made by the U.N. and above all India itself – the right to self-determination. On this day, 77 years ago, the first detachment of Indian soldiers flew into Srinagar airport in Jammu and Kashmir to occupy Kashmir and start one of the sorriest chapters of human suffering in modern history.

According to the Partition Plan at the time of the partition of India by the British, the Muslim-majority areas with geographical contiguity were to constitute Pakistan, and likewise, geographically contiguous Hindu and Sikh-majority areas were to go with India. Gauging closer cultural and religious affinities of Kashmiris with Pakistan and their strong desire to join Pakistan, India conspired with Kashmir’s unelected ruler, the Maharaja of Kashmir, and forcibly landed its troops in Kashmir. Thus, once sold to Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1846 by the British, Kashmiris were gifted away in 1947 by an unelected ruler to India, against their will.

Realizing that illegal occupation wouldn’t sustain in front of Kashmiri's resolute will for freedom, India took the matter to the United Nations Security Council in January 1948. The U.N. Security Council, through a number of resolutions, affirmed that "the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations." Both Pakistan and India agreed to this eminently sensible prescription.

However, knowing that the will of the Kashmiri people would likely lead to accession to Pakistan, India reneged upon its commitments given to the Kashmiris and the international community. It kept creating one hurdle after another to prevent the plebiscite from taking place, hoping that a combination of time and force, through its occupation army, would silence the Kashmiris’ demand for self-determination. To perpetuate its forcible occupation of the Indian Illegal Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), India has amassed more than 900,000 armed troops in the territory. Torture, illegal detentions, fictitious cases, indiscriminate use of force under the impunity of draconian laws and systemized campaigns to rob the Kashmiris of their distinct cultural and religious identities mark the reality of India’s brutal occupation of the territory.

The U.N. resolutions also mandated that until the plebiscite was held, neither India nor Pakistan could take any steps that changed the situation on the ground. Contrary to this, all kinds of political, diplomatic, military, economic, parliamentary, constitutional and demographic jugglery and coercion have been employed to deny this right to the Kashmiris in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The latest is the revocation of the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir on Aug. 5, 2019. This move was followed by measures to change the demographic structure and political landscape of the region with the sole aim of obliterating Kashmiri identity in their own land, by issuing fake domiciles, changing property laws, gerrymandering electoral districts, creating new seats for Hindu-dominated regions in the state legislature and adding non-Kashmiri residents to the electoral rolls.

Despite all odds, the valiant Kashmiris continue to defy the Indian bayonets and refuse to accept subjugation as their fate. Recently a so-called electoral process was conducted in IIOJK in an environment of fear and intimidation, where thousands of political prisoners languish in jails, with 14 political parties being barred from participation. It is important to note that keeping in mind the IIOJK’s internationally recognized disputed status, any so-called elections conducted in pursuance of the Indian Constitution carry no legal value in the eyes of international law. Secondly, the relevant UNSC resolutions clearly state that the final disposition of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute will be made in accordance with the will of the Kashmiri people, expressed through a U.N.-supervised plebiscite. Any other process cannot, therefore, serve as a substitute to grant the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people.

History is witness to the fact that India has acted insincerely all along, and completely reneged on solemn commitments made to the people of the IIOJK, Pakistan and the international community. The Jammu and Kashmir dispute has been on the U.N. agenda for over seven and a half decades. Pakistan has remained faithful to its commitments to the Kashmiris and has consistently called upon the international community to assume its role and responsibility concerning the IIOJK. The only solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute lies in ensuring that the Kashmiris are allowed to exercise their right of self-determination, through the democratic process of holding a U.N.-mandated free and impartial plebiscite, as espoused in the relevant UNSC resolutions and as per the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Even after 77 years, the Kashmiris continue to await the implementation of the UNSC Resolutions. The international community must act now to uphold the integrity of the international framework for the protection of basic human rights. By ensuring the people of Kashmir and Palestine are granted their right to self-determination, the U.N. can restore trust in the international order and provide hope to millions of oppressed people.