05 February Kashmir Solidarity Day: Federal Minister Foreign Affairs of Pakistan

TEXT: While observing this Kashmir Solidarity day, we continue to pay homage to the supreme sacrifices of our brothers and sisters in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). We reiterate our unflinching and complete support for their just struggle. This will continue till the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.

The endless saga of Indian cruelty is indicative of a consistent pattern of state oppression and atrocities. Indian occupation forces have been brutalizing the Kashmiris with impunity for more than seven decades. History has few parallels of such massive violation of fundamental rights. Over 8 million Kashmiris have been turned into prisoners in their own homes, with more than 900,000 occupation troops holding them hostage. Kashmiri leaders remain incarcerated. Kashmiri youth is being particularly targeted through incarceration at undisclosed locations indiscriminate use of pellet guns, and extra-judicial killings in staged cordon-and-search operations. Illegal demographic changes in IIOJK are further violation of international law. Kashmiris’ Muslim majority is being turned into a minority in their own land.

India’s reprehensible treatment of Kashmiri journalists and human rights defenders makes it clear that it would not hesitate to go to any extent for perpetuation of its illegal occupation and hiding its crimes. This manifestation of Indian state-terrorism against the Kashmiris is well-documented by human rights and humanitarian organizations as well as the international media. Pakistan’s recent dossier has extensively documented irrefutable evidence of India's gross and systematic human rights violations in IIOJK.

India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 were manifestly anti-peace and against international law including the UN Charter, UN Security Council Resolutions, and the 4th Geneva Convention. These measures were rejected by the Kashmiris, Pakistan and the international community.

The continued Indian oppression has only strengthened the will of the Kashmiris to stand firm in their just struggle. India must realize that oppression and systematic violation of fundamental rights cannot break the will of the Kashmiris struggling for their self-determination and freedom from Indian occupation.

Pakistan remains committed to peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people. The vision of durable peace and stability in South Asia will remain unrealized without a just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. As the military siege of Kashmir has now spanned over two and a half years, the Kashmiris await attention of those who espouse the cause of human dignity to address their plight.

The international community must demand an end to India’s gross and widespread human rights violations in IIOJK; reversal of its unilateral and illegal actions of 5 August 2019; repeal of draconian laws; unfettered access to UN-supervised investigations into cases of extrajudicial executions and; implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022