Islamabad: Mushaal Hussein Mullick, Chairperson of the Peace and Culture Organisation and former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Human Rights and Women Empowerment, has declared India's Independence Day, 15 August, as a Black Day for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking on the occasion, Mushaal Hussein Mullick - the wife of imprisoned Kashmiri leader Mohammad Yasin Malik - reminded the world that while India celebrates its independence, the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) continue to live under military occupation, stripped of their fundamental rights and denied the right to self-determination promised under United Nations Security Council resolutions.

She strongly condemned the ongoing incarceration of her husband, Yasin Malik, Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), who has been held in solitary confinement at Delhi's notorious Tihar Jail since 2019. Yasin Malik, a lifelong advocate of peaceful resistance, now faces a politically motivated death sentence in what human rights organisations have called an 'unfair trial' under draconian laws.

'August 15 represents not freedom for Kashmiris, but the continuation of an occupation marked by arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, curfews, and communication blockades,' Mushaal said. 'No matter how dark the night, the dawn of freedom will come for Kashmir. Until then, August 15 will remain our Black Day.'

Mushaal Mullick urged the international community, the United Nations, and global human rights organisations to break their silence, demand the immediate release of Yasin Malik, and press for an end to human rights violations in IIOJK.

She reiterated that Kashmiris' struggle is peaceful and legitimate, grounded in international law and rooted in a demand for dignity, justice, and the right to choose their own political future.