President Dr Arif Alvi has resolved that Pakistan would continue to be the voice of its Kashmiri brothers and sisters, who had been making invaluable sacrifices, and would extend all possible support for the fullest realization of their legitimate rights. “We have no doubt that durable peace and stability in South Asia can only be achieved through a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people,” the president said in his message on Youm-e-Istehsal annually observed on August 5. He said that India unleashed its illegal and unilateral actions on August 5, 2019 in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) with the aim of disempowering, disenfranchising, and dispossessing the Kashmiri people in their own land.
These measures were designed to permanently occupy the disputed territory and erase its distinct Kashmiri character, he remarked.
He said that India deviously attempted to convince the world that Jammu and Kashmir was an undisputed part of its territory. However, it was India that took the Jammu and Kashmir issue to the Security Council, where the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir was internationally recognized. It was decided that the final disposition of the State should be determined through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations (UN). President Alvi said that the indomitable will and courage of the Kashmiri people had enabled them to withstand every Indian attempt to terrorize and subjugate them. Meanwhile Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in his message stated that it has been four years since India unilaterally and illegally revoked the special status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) on 5 August 2019. He said that since then, India has resorted to use of brutal force and violence to suppress the Kashmiri people. It has also undertaken a series of measures clearly aimed at altering the internationally recognized disputed status of IIOJK. In particular, India has tried to bring about demographic changes to undermine the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris.
The barbaric and brutal occupation of IIOJK by India not only violates international law, but also makes a mockery of the globally accepted norms of fundamental rights and freedoms, he added.
He said that the international community can no longer remain silent while India continues to perpetrate its oppression in Kashmir.
