Pakistan rejects Indian SC’s Kashmir verdict

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan on Monday categorically rejected the judgment announced by the Supreme Court of India on the status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), terming it “another manifestation of the pliant judiciary under India’s ruling dispensation”.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani during a news conference termed IIOJK an “internationally recognised dispute”, which remained on the agenda of the UN Security Council for over seven decades.

Jilani said the final disposition of IIOJK was to be made in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and as per the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

The reaction came as India’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld a move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to revoke the limited autonomy of Muslim-majority Kashmir.

The 2019 declaration was "a culmination of the process of integration and as such is a valid exercise of power", the Supreme Court said in its verdict.

Read Amnesty urges action on rights violations in IIOJK

The move was accompanied by the imposition of direct rule from New Delhi, mass arrests, a total lockdown and communication blackout that ran for months as India bolstered its armed forces in the region to contain protests.

The removal of Article 370 of the Constitution, which enshrined the disputed region's special status, was challenged by Kashmir's political parties, the local bar association and individual litigants, culminating in Monday's verdict.

The court upheld removing the region's autonomy while calling for IIOJK to be restored to statehood and put on a par with any other Indian state "at the earliest and as soon as possible".

The court also ordered state elections to take place by Sept 30, 2024.

Modi welcomed the judgement as "historic".

It was "a beacon of hope, a promise of a brighter future, and a testament to our collective resolve to build a stronger, more united India", the Hindu nationalist leader posted on X.

“India has no right to make unilateral decisions on the status of this disputed territory against the will of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan,” the foreign minister said.

“International law doesn’t recognise India’s unilateral and illegal actions [of 2019],” the foreign minister posted on X.

“The judicial endorsement by the Indian Supreme Court has no legal value,” he said, adding that Kashmiris had an inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the UNSC resolutions.

Islamabad would write to the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the European Union to apprise them of the Indian court decision and its “illegality”, Jilani added.

He said Pakistan did not acknowledge the supremacy of the Indian Constitution over IIOJK.

"Any process, subservient to the Indian Constitution, carries no legal significance," he said.

Read more India says downgrading IIOJK statehood is 'temporary'

He said India could not abdicate its international obligations on the pretext of domestic legislations and judicial verdicts.

"India's plans to annex IIOJK are bound to fail," he added. "The judicial endorsement of India's unilateral and illegal actions of Aug 5, 2019 is a travesty of justice, based on distorted historical and legal arguments."

FM Jilani said the Indian Supreme Court's verdict failed to recognise the internationally recognised disputed nature of IIOJK.

"It further fails to cater to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, who have already rejected India's illegal and unilateral actions of Aug 5, 2019," he added.

He emphasised that restoration of statehood, conduct of State Assembly elections or similar steps could not serve as a substitute to the grant of the right to self-determination to Kashmiri people.

"The judgment cannot distract the international community's attention from the gross and systematic human rights violations being perpetrated in IIOJK," he said.

He said India's unilateral and illegal measures since Aug 5, 2019 had been aimed at changing the demographic structure and political landscape of IIOJK, in flagrant violation of international law and the relevant UNSC resolutions, especially Resolution 122 (1957).

"They remain a matter of grave concern for Pakistan as their ultimate goal is to convert the Kashmiris into a dis-empowered community in their own land," he said.

He said these measures must be rescinded to create an environment for peace and dialogue.

Jilani said Pakistan would continue to extend its full political, diplomatic, and moral support to the people of IIOJK for the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination. (With input from agencies)