AT a time when Kashmiris have once again been wronged, this time by the Indian Supreme Court, caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has done well by reaffirming Pakistan’s moral, political and diplomatic support for the people of Kashmir in their just struggle for self-determination. Addressing a special session of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Thursday, he called for India to desist from consolidating its occupation, revoke the illegal unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, and not change the demography of the disputed territory.
The address of the Prime Minister was thought-provoking in the backdrop of a politically-motivated decision of the Indian Supreme Court that is nothing but an attempt to legitimize illegal actions of the Modi Government. Kashmiris, living in occupied territory, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan and elsewhere in the world, have unanimously rejected the verdict of the Indian court terming it as a tool to consolidate India’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. They have renewed their pledge to continue their struggle against Indian occupation and for the right of self-determination. Apart from deceptive legal and constitutional measures, the Indian Government has also intensified its repressive crackdown to eliminate Kashmiris, destroy their means of livelihood and change demography of the region in an attempt to suppress its Muslim-majority status besides intensive shelling on this side of the Line of Control (LoC) resulting in the loss of precious lives. It was in this backdrop that the Prime Minister stressed the need for India to halt the human rights abuses in IIOJ&K, repeal emergency laws, withdraw its heavy military presence and provide unhindered access to UN bodies and the international media. He also paid tribute to the martyrs of the Kashmir Movement and those living along the Line of Control who suffered losses due to Indian ceasefire violations. Pakistan has all along been extending political, moral and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir and this is understandable as Kashmir remains an unfinished agenda of partition. It is because of the strenuous efforts of Pakistan that today the world community has a better understanding of all dimensions of the issue, especially danger to regional and global peace and security. This became evident when British lawmakers, activists, practitioners and peace activists held discussions on Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in the UK Parliament on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. In a blow to Indian machinations aimed at changing the status of the disputed territory, they reminded the international community of its responsibility to press for a free and fair plebiscite in Kashmir. Similarly, the OIC too firmly rejected the shame verdict of the Indian Supreme Court emphasizing peaceful and just settlement of the dispute in line with the UN Security Council resolutions. In fact, Jammu and Kashmir has illegally been occupied by India and its Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to decide the fate of its people. Kashmir is also the oldest unsettled agenda of the United Nations as the UNSC resolutions remained unimplemented and the Indian government was bent upon consolidating its occupation of the disputed territory through a series of legislative and administrative measures. Referring to the Indian decision to take the Kashmir issue to the United Nations and repeated Indian leaders recognizing it as a dispute, he said the current Indian Government must honour its longstanding commitment to the UN resolutions. As India is engaged in massive human rights violations of Kashmiris, the Prime Minister rightly highlighted that the Indian title of “world’s largest democracy” should be changed to “world’s largest hypocrisy”, where hollow slogans of democracy and diversity were raised to cover up the marginalization of minorities, state-sponsored terrorism and illegal occupation.
