Observer Report
Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday termed India’s issuance of 25,000 domiciles to Indian nationals in occupied Kashmir “illegal” and said that he has approached United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres over the matter.
In a tweet, the premier said that he would also reach out to other world leaders to stop India from going further on an “unacceptable path that further usurps the legal and internationally guaranteed rights of the Kashmiri people”.
He cautioned that such a move would “seriously imperil peace and security in South Asia”.
“First, India’s attempt at illegal annexation of IOJK and now its attempts to alter IOJK’s demographic structure including issuance of domicile certificates to 25,000 Indian nationals are all illegal, in violation of UNSC resolutions & international law, including 4th Geneva Convention,” he wrote. As many as 25,000 non-locals have been granted domicile certificates in Muslim-majority occupied Jammu and Kashmir since May 18, which local politicians believe is the beginning of a move to disturb the demographic profile of the region, according to a report from Anadolu Agency.
Information Minister Shibli Faraz also urged the UN and the international community to take “immediate action” to stop India from changing the demography and distinct identity of occupied Kashmir, Radio Pakistan reported.
Faraz said that the “Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure), 2020” was “clearly aimed at changing the demographic structure of Kashmir” and undermined the rights of the valley’s people to self-determination.
He added that he, along with the prime minister, would continue to highlight the plight of the Kashmiris on all international forums until the “realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the UNSC Resolutions”.
