Jammu Martyrs Day – Commemorating the lost

The month of November recognizes Jammu Martyrs Day – one of the blackest days in the history of Kashmir. The struggle for Kashmiri independence has been long and filled with struggle. The partition of India created the largest mass migration in human history as violence over the division spiraled out of control throughout India. Millions of Muslims fled to what would become Pakistan. November 6, 1947, marks the bloodiest day in Kashmir history and the violence that has plagued the region ever since.

On that day thousands of Muslims attempted to cross into Pakistan only to be murdered by military forces and Hindu extremists. Men, women, and children were massacred and 200,000 are thought to have been killed.

Such loss of life can only adequately be described as genocide and ethnic cleansing. The whole population of Muslim majority areas (Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, Reasi, and others) was eliminated. As a result of the massacre, Muslims became a minority in 123 villages of Jammu where Muslims were in majority.

A long and painful memory

It has been 74 years since the massacre and it has been a prelude to increasing atrocities committed by the Indian Government.
Since the massacre, an additional 300,000 people have been killed in the struggle to achieve
peace in Kashmir.

The unkown genocide

The 20th century saw genocide at an industrial scale. From the Holocaust in Germany to the pogroms, purges, and state-sponsored starvation in the U.S.S.R. and China, crimes against humanity were levied by nations against their people. Despite all of this, few outside of the Kashmir Valley and Pakistan know about the massacre in 1947.

Despite the global pandemic, commemorations of the events have been held on both sides of the division line between Pakistan and Kashmir in 2020 and 2021. This year special prayers began at Fajr in addition to the prayers that took place at prominent mosques calling for the end of the illegal occupation of Kashmir and the freedom of its imprisoned populace.

Never forget

The World Kashmir Awareness Forum encourages you to remember those who have lost their lives not only to the Massacre of November 6 but all who have their lives stolen from them for living in what has become a prison state. Share the word of the events of November 6th so that the world may become aware not only of the atrocities committed against our people but that the crimes of today may cease.