Indian parliament, judiciary cannot legislate IIOJK matter: APC

Says steps taken to change region’s demography are against the spirit of UNSC resolutions

MIRPUR/AJK:

The participants of All-Parties Conference (APC), while terming Kashmir as an internationally recognized disputed territory, have said that neither Indian parliament nor its judiciary has any mandate to legislate or adjudicate on the matters related to Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The congregation, held in the federal metropolis under the chairmanship of AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, was attended and addressed by the Kashmiri leaders, civil society activists and legal experts hailing from both sides of the line of control, said a statement.

Through a unanimously adopted resolution, the APC condemned in strong terms the Indian government's attempts aimed at legitimizing its occupation over the territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Terming the Modi government's Aug 5 move illegal, the conference resolved that the successive steps taken by India to merge IIOJK into Indian union and attempts to change the region's demography were against the spirit of the UNSC resolutions.

The participants of the conference said that such attempts on part of the Indian government cannot change the disputed nature of the Kashmir dispute that has now assumed dangerous proportions. "The future of the state of Jammu and Kashmir will be decided through a simultaneous state-wide plebiscite," another resolution said.

"The future of the state of Jammu and Kashmir will be decided through a plebiscite held at a time throughout the state," another resolution said, adding that forced integration of the IIOJK into India was a grave violation of all UN resolutions, particularly Resolutions No. 1951(91) and 1957(122).

Reiterating their all -out support for the Kashmiris' ongoing freedom struggle in IIOJK, the participants of the All-Party Conference said the Kashmiris' freedom movement against India was a legitimate and indigenous struggle for the right of self-determination guaranteed to them by the international community.

Participants of the APC paid eulogizing tributes to the people of IIOJK for their resilience and courage in the face of Indian state terrorism.

The meeting strongly condemned the ban on freedom of speech and expression, arbitrary arrests and detentions of All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders, political activists, youth, journalists and human rights workers in IIOJK.

The conference also paid special tributes to the Kashmiri resistance leaders including Muhammad Yasin Malik, Musarat Alam Bhat, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Ms. Asia Andrabi, Dr Qasim Faktoo, Naeem Ahmad Khan, Fahmida Sufi, Nahida Nasreen and other leaders. It voiced its concerns over the fast deteriorating health condition and threats to the lives of the Kashmiri prisoners who have been languishing in different jails within and outside Kashmir for the past several years.

The gathering demanded immediate release of all the political leaders who have been arrested on trumped up charges. It also took a serious exception to imposition of black laws in IIOJK gross violations of human rights, changes made to the region's domicile law, political dis-empowerment of Kashmiri Muslims, redrawing electoral boundaries, killing innocent and unarmed civilians during cordon and search operations and fake encounters.

Seeking an early and amicable settlement of the Kashmir dispute, the participants of the conference said, "Jammu and Kashmir is not an internal matter of India but it is a tripartite issue to which the people of Jammu and Kashmir are an important party".

The conference thanked the Pakistan premier for adopting a firm stand on the issue of Kashmiri in his recent speech to AJK Legislative Assembly session.