Kashmir Day marked in Seoul

A Kashmir solidarity event has been attended by the Pakistani ambassador and members of the Pakistani community in Korea.

The Friends of Kashmir Association issued a statement saying that the event in Seoul was held to “express solidarity with the people of Kashmir in their valiant struggle against the repressive occupation of India.”

But the Indian ambassador to Korea called the event hostile propaganda against India.

The Friends of Kashmir Association advocates that the area of Kashmir, on the Northeast Indian border with Pakistan, has been under Indian occupation since the partition of the Indian subcontinent following its independence from British rule in 1947. More than 100,000 people have died since conflict over the state’s sovereignty intensified in the 1990s. The annual Kashmir Solidarity Day renews calls for India to hold a plebiscite on the issue. Around 50 people attended the Seoul event on Feb. 5.

During the event, Pakistani ambassador Shaukat Ali Mukadam read out messages from the president and the prime minister of Pakistan stating that: “Pakistan shall continue to stand by our Kashmiri brethren and shall always provide them with moral, diplomatic and political support.”

But Vishnu Prakash, India’s ambassador to Seoul later commented on the event.

“The state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Union of India, which is the largest democracy in the world,” Prakash said.

“As in other parts of India, free and fair elections are also held regularly in Jammu and Kashmir, enabling the countrymen living there to exercise their franchise and elect a government of their choice. Last elections in the state saw a voter turn out of over 60 percent which speaks for itself. It is most unfortunate that the soil of a friendly country like South Korea is being misused by certain elements to conduct hostile and motivated propaganda against India.”