LAHORE: Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that black day against Indian cruelties in occupied Jammu & Kashmir will be observed actively and has asked elected representatives and workers to take part in the functions on the occasion.

Speaking to MPs here on Sunday, he said that India could not deprive the Kashmiris of their right of self-determination through brutalities and that the Indian government should understand that the policy of violence and atrocities had further increased the desire of freedom in the hearts of Kashmiri people.

He said that international community should pressurize India to stop bloodshed in Kashmir as murder of unarmed Kashmiris wasopen violation of human rights. World community should take immediate practical steps for checking Indian cruelties against the Kashmiris, he added.

Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq, MNAs Pervaiz Malik, Mehar Ishtiaq Ahmad and Shaista Pervaiz Malik, provincial ministers Mujtaba Shuja, Malik Nadeem Kamran, MPAs Khawaja Imran Nazir, Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Mansha Ullah Butt and other elected representatives were also present.

Meanwhile, the chief minister also spoke to a gathering of chairmen and vice-chairmen of Lahore union councils here.

He said that local bodies were of paramount importance for democratic system and a best source of completion of the obligation of public service at local level.