ISLAMABAD: Senator Sherry Rehman, Vice-President of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), on Monday strongly denounced the Indian Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the revocation of the special status of the Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and said that regardless of India’s actions, Kashmiris’ inherent right to self-determination stands firm under international law and conventions.
She said in a statement: “The Supreme Court of India attempted to provide legal backing to the actions of the Modi government. The people of Indian occupied Kashmir strongly reject the Indian Supreme Court’s decision, nor does it have any bearing on international law.”
In 2019, the Modi administration passed legislation revoking the special status of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Petitions challenging this move were submitted in 2019, experiencing a five-year delay.
“With 2024 marking an election year in India, the Supreme Court’s dismissal of petitions against the controversial legislation appears to be a strategic move aligning with Modi’s political agenda. This decision reflects the court’s endorsement of the BJP’s extremist politics. Such legal maneuvers cannot alter the disputed status of occupied Kashmir. The destiny of Kashmir lies not in the hands of the Modi government or the Indian Supreme Court but in the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people enshrined in the UN Resolution. Pakistan will continue to advocate for this cause and stand in solidarity with the people of Indian-occupied Kashmir. The resolution of the Kashmir issue will ultimately be determined by the people of Kashmir, in exercising their inherent and inalienable right to self-determination,” she said.
Senator Rehman added that the ethnic cleansing and bloodletting in both occupied Kashmir and Gaza where human rights are egregiously violated tells us that a selective application of international law is becoming normalised as expedient for the powerful. It is high time many of us spoke out in solidarity with the oppressed, she said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023