Pakistan reiterates support for IIOJK people

PM says India continues to oppress people of Jammu and Kashmir to break their will

ISLAMABAD:

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Friday reiterated that Pakistan would continue to extend its full political, diplomatic, and moral support to the valiant Kashmiri people in their just struggle for their rights, including the inalienable right to self-determination, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

“Today, Kashmiris around the world are observing the 75th anniversary of the Resolution adopted by the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), providing that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices, the prime minister said in a message on the occasion of Self-Determination Day.

In essence, he said it was a reaffirmation of the inalienable right of Kashmiris to self-determination, which is enshrined in international law and upheld by international human rights instruments. He regretted that despite more than seven-and-a-half decades, the oppressed people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) had not been able to exercise this fundamental right. “India continues to oppress the people of Jammu and Kashmir to break their will.”

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Since August 5, 2019, the prime minister said India was engaged in a vicious exercise, aimed at altering the demographic structure and political landscape of IIOJK, to turn Kashmiris into a disempowered community in their land. The Indian Supreme Court’s recent verdict on the status of IIOJK was yet another step towards the denial of the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.

“The genuine aspirations of the Kashmiris cannot be wished away through domestic legislation and engineered judicial verdicts,” he added. He pointed out the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) annually adopts a resolution on ‘Universal Realisation of the Right of the People to Self-Determination’ that draws international attention towards the plight and rights of people living under situations of forced occupation.

“The international community, especially the United Nations, is responsible for ensuring that the people of IIOJK exercise their inalienable right to self-determination,” he added. Separately, Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Human Rights Mushaal Hussein Mullick urged the international community to take practical steps to hold India accountable for its gross and widespread human rights violations in IIOJK.

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Addressing a seminar in connection with Right to Self-Determination Day, she also called upon India to allow unfettered access to the international observers and human rights organisations to IIOJK. The special assistant urged all segments of the society, including academia, Ulema, and journalists, to raise their voice in highlighting the plight of innocent Kashmiris under Indian aggression.

She said, “It is high time that we all should stand up to expose Indian oppression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.” Condemning Modi's brunt persecution of minorities, particularly Muslims, in India, she said it seemed Modi's government was working on RSS policy to sabotage the rights of minorities and imposed Hindutva in the so-called democratic and secular country.