New Delhi: India on Wednesday (August 5) said that it categorically rejects what it has called the “political absurdity and futile attempts” by Pakistan to observe an ‘exploitation day’ on the anniversary of the government’s reading down of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and depriving it of its special status.Pakistani media has reported on statements issued by top functionaries in the neighbouring country, including by President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar.Zardari said Pakistan observed Youm–e–Istehsal (‘day of exploitation’) to reaffirm its “unwavering solidarity” with the people of Kashmir and to pay tribute to their “courage, resilience and commitment” to what he described as their struggle for self-determination.He said India’s actions of August 5, 2019 “cannot change the legal status of the dispute, nor can they weaken the resolve of the Kashmiri people”.Sharif said Pakistan observed the day to remind the world of the “grave consequences” of India’s “illegal and unilateral actions” of August 5, 2019, which he said sought to alter the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir “in flagrant violation of international law and the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council”.Dar also called the 2019 decision a “grave challenge” to the established international framework and said that the events of August 5 that year were a “matter of deep concern”.“These steps have further complicated efforts to promote peace and stability in South Asia and have adversely impacted the lives, rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people,” he said.In a statement, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh “are, have always been and shall forever remain an integral and inalienable part of India”.The MEA said the constitutional changes introduced on August 5, 2019 are entirely India’s internal matter and have resulted in unprecedented socio-economic development, improved governance and greater democratic empowerment for the people of the region. It asserted that Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on issues that fall strictly within India’s domestic affairs.Rejecting Pakistan’s allegations, the MEA spokesperson said Islamabad’s attempts to propagate false narratives are aimed solely at diverting international attention from what India described as Pakistan’s poor human rights record and its status as the global epicentre of terrorism.The MEA also brought up the protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir during the elections there, and said:“The international community is currently witnessing the brutal suppression of fundamental rights in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). Recent weeks have seen Pakistani security forces resort to lethal violence, targeted killings, and draconian bans to silence peaceful civil rights protests led by the local populace. Such state-sponsored violence against unarmed civilians exposes the profound hypocrisy of the Pakistani establishment.”The protests, led by the recently proscribed Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee, which is asking for changes to electoral laws and economic concessions for the region, have seen a death toll of 50 so far.Amidst an internet blackout, Pakistani authorities have imposed new restrictions on international media reporting in the country.Calling on Pakistan to change its approach, India said Islamabad would be “well advised” to stop the “bloodshed in PoJK, take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terror networks operating from its soil, and immediately vacate all Indian territories under its illegal and forcible occupation.”“The world is not fooled by these orchestrated spectacles,” it said.