FM draws world attention to Indian SC verdict

Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani has addressed letters to the leadership of the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the European Union inviting their attention to the illegality of the recent judgment by the Supreme Court of India on the status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

In the letters, the foreign minister has underscored that under international law, domestic legislation and judicial verdicts cannot be invoked to determine the final status of an internationally recognised disputed territory.

The minister condemned the unlawful measures of the Indian authorities to consolidate their occupation of IIOJK and persistent suppression of the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

India’s illegal and unilateral actions of Aug 5, 2019, and a series of subsequent steps, are aimed at altering the demographic structure and political landscape of IIOJK.

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The clear goal of these unlawful steps is to convert Kashmiris into a disempowered community in their own land.

Jilani termed the recent judgment of the Supreme Court of India a breach of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, especially Resolution 122 (1957).

This endorsement of India’s unlawful measures cannot override the provisions and prescriptions of the UN Security Council as contained in its resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.

The foreign minister called on the UN Security Council to ensure full implementation of its resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir dispute; and to urge India to end the grave and systematic human rights violations and to reverse all its illegal and unilateral actions in IIOJK undertaken since Aug 5, 2019.