ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Imran Khan has reiterated that being a direct party to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, Pakistan will continue to underscore the imperative of holding a free and impartial plebiscite under the United Nations’ auspices in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
“Our strong and steadfast support for the Kashmiri people will continue till the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination,” the prime minister in his message on the Kashmiris’ Right to Self-Determination Day.
The Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and the world over are observing the Right to Self-Determination Day on Tuesday with a renewed pledge to continue their liberation struggle till it reaches its ultimate goal.
The prime minister said that today is the 72nd anniversary of the United Nations’ commitment to uphold the fundamental human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He said that on January 5, 1949, the United Nations Commission for India & Pakistan (UNCIP) pledged the realization of the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations.
Imran Khan said that this day reminds the International Community, especially the United Nations Security Council, of the imperative of honouring this commitment towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The prime minister said that the importance of the inalienable right to self-determination has been acknowledged in various human rights Covenants and decisions of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.
Owing to the Indian intransigence, the UN Security Council has failed to fulfill its pledge to the Kashmiri people, he said.
In addition, he said that for over seven decades, the life of Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) has been a chronicle of State-sponsored cruelty and terrorism. He said that around 900,000 occupation forces have converted the region into the largest militarized zone in the world.
The prime minister further said that the post-August 5, 2019, India has unleashed a new reign of terror in IIOJK, maintaining an inhuman military siege, perpetrating egregious violations of human rights of the innocent people especially women, children, and the elderly with unprecedented impunity, and seeking to illegally change the demographic structure of the occupied territory.
For more than 500 days now, Indian occupation forces have been further brutalizing the besieged innocent Kashmiris, brazenly denying their basic rights of communication, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and above all, freedom to determine their own future, he said.
“Kashmiris have been deprived of their fundamental rights to life, food, and health despite the rampant COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
The prime minister said that the recent spate of unprecedented Indian state-sponsored terrorism in IIOJK and discriminatory steps against minorities, especially Muslims, are a clear manifestation of the ‘Hindutva’ ideology espoused by the RSS-inspired BJP regime.
Imran Khan said that the world must ensure that human rights abuses in Indian Occupied Kashmir do not go unpunished and that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity are held accountable.
