Prominent Hurriyat leader and Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir National Front Altaf Hussain Wani has urged the Kashmiri people on both sides of the LoC to observe India’s Republic Day as Black Day as a mark of their protest against India’s illegal occupation of their motherland. In a statement issued here today Wani, while highlighting India’s colonial legacy, said that it was quite unfortunate that a country that has crushed the political and human rights of the people of Kashmir under the jackboots was unabashedly projecting itself as a democratic state, said a press release. “For the Indian rulers, the importance of Kashmir has been nothing more than a colony”, he said, adding that notwithstanding the international commitments and obligations every Indian ruler, right from Nehru to Modi, has played a villainous role in erasing the Kashmir’s distinct identity, its unique culture and history. “They didn’t even hesitate in using the military might to suppress the Kashmiris’ legitimate demands”, Wani said, adding that the present regime influenced by the Hindutva ideology had broken all records of barbarism and brutality in Kashmir in recent years. While denouncing the Modi government’s sledgehammer policy against Kashmiris, he said, “Modi government has given a free hand to the occupation forces to crush the Kashmiris’ struggle by hook or by crook”. “The continued occupation and sledgehammer policy adopted by New Delhi since 1947, has turned Kashmir into a smouldering volcano”, he said, adding that the Indian leaders must realize the ground reality that they can’t hold Kashmiris hostage for a long time by the dint of force. He said that it was incumbent upon the international community to take serious notice of the illegal occupation of Kashmir by India and its belligerent occupation of Kashmir, which he said has been a major cause and consequence of unrest in the region. Reiterating his party’s support for APHC’s call for a complete strike on January 26, Wani appealed to the people of Kashmir to observe the day as Black Day to send a message to the world that they don’t accept India’s illegal and forcible control over Kashmir.