Leadership hails Kashmir Martyrs’ Day

Reiterates support for the people of IIOJK

ISLAMABAD:

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday paid tribute to the 22 Kashmiris martyred during the 1931 uprising against Dogra rule, marking the 95th Kashmir Martyrs’ Day (Youm-e-Shuhada-e-Kashmir).
The Kashmir Martyrs’ Day is observed on July 13.
“On this somber day, the people of Pakistan join their Kashmiri brethren in commemorating the sacrifice of the martyrs of 1931. Regrettably, Kashmiris are still struggling against India’s illegal occupation,” the President Secretariat Media Wing, in a statement, quoted the president as saying.
Even today, the president said, over 900,000-strong Indian occupation forces continued to hold the Kashmiri people hostage to perpetuate the wrongful occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. 
India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5th August 2019 were yet another attempt to strip the Kashmiri people of their distinct identity and turn them into a minority in their own land, he added. 
President Zardari said India scrapped the regional public holiday on Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, which had been observed every year since 1948. India also discontinued the traditional Guard of Honour ceremony at the Martyrs’ Graveyard.
“As we honour the invaluable sacrifice of the heroes of 1931 as well as all innocent Kashmiris who have laid down their lives in this just struggle, we urge India to immediately halt repression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), cease all human rights violations, release all political prisoners, lift the military siege and stop its attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory,” the president said.
He urged the international community to play its due role in ensuring respect for human rights in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to support efforts aimed at the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Separately, the prime minister said the government of Pakistan reiterates its unwavering political, diplomatic, and moral support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. 
“We stand in complete solidarity with their just struggle for the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” he said in a statement. 
“Lasting peace and stability in South Asia remain contingent upon the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” he added. 
“Their sacrifice marked a defining moment in the political awakening of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their struggle for dignity, fundamental rights and identity.”
The premier noted that Kashmir Martyrs’ Day also symbolizes the resilience, courage and unwavering determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, which have inspired generations, to continue their just struggle for justice and the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.