Islamabad
President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan in their separate messages on the Kashmiris’ Right to Self-Determination Day have urged the United Nations (UN) to honour its commitment of providing the right to self-determination to the people of Kashmir. They said that being a direct party to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, Pakistan will continue its strong and steadfast support for Kashmiri people till realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
The President in his message said the global community cannot shy away from their responsibility in guaranteeing a free and fair plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister Imran Khan said for over seven decades, the life of Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir has been a chronicle of state-sponsored cruelty and terrorism. He said owing to Indian intransigence, the UN Security Council has failed to fulfil its pledge to the Kashmiri people. Imran Khan said that India has unleashed a new reign of terror in the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support to the people of Kashmir in their demand for realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination. He urged India to allow the United Nations to investigate the grave human rights violation in IIOJ&K and said the international community must continue to support Kashmir for basic human rights and fundamental freedom.
Information Minister Shibli Faraz has urged the international community to shun its silence on the Indian crimes against humanity in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K). In his tweets on Tuesday, he said the 5th January reminds us that the UN resolution accepting the right to self-determination of Kashmiris has yet not been implemented. The information minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan being an advocate and ambassador of Kashmiris is forcefully pleading the case of valiant Kashmiri people at all international forums and unmasking the evil face of India.
Paying tributes to the struggle of Kashmiri people, Shibli Faraz said the oppression unleashed against them has not deterred them from seeking their fundamental democratic right to self-determination. Chairman Kashmir Committee Shehryar Afridi has reaffirmed that the entire Pakistani nation stands by their Kashmiri brethren until they achieve their right to self-determination. Addressing a seminar in connection with Kashmiris’ Right to Self Determination Day in Islamabad today (Tuesday), he said, “We all are united for the Kashmir cause.”
Afridi said Pakistan will continue its moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmir cause. The Chairman Kashmir Committee said the promise made to the Kashmiris for right to self-determination must be fulfilled. He said that India’s ugly face, its false propaganda and its nefarious designs against Pakistan have been exposed by EU DisinfoLab. Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and the world over observed the Right to Self-Determination Day on Tuesday, with a renewed pledge to continue their liberation struggle till it reaches its ultimate goal.
It was on 5th January in 1949 when the UN Security Council passed a resolution supporting the Kashmiris’ right to decide their future by themselves through UN-sponsored plebiscite. The day was marked by various activities, including rallies, seminars and conferences across the world to remind the UN that it must implement its relevant resolutions to settle the Kashmir dispute and save Kashmiris from the Indian brutalities.—TLTP
