- The President calls on the global community to enforce UN Security Council resolutions.
- Prime Minister Shehbaz criticizes India for introducing draconian laws in IIOJK.
- Says Pakistan stands resolutely with people of Kashmir.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering support to the people of India’s illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in their struggle for the right to self-determination.
Every year on October 27, Pakistanis and Kashmiris around the world mark Black Day to commemorate and protest the invasion of Jammu and Kashmir by Indian military forces in 1947.
In their separate messages issued on the occasion of Kashmir Black Day, both leaders urged the international community to take tangible steps towards a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
President Zardari called on the UN, global human rights bodies and the international community to hold India accountable for serious and systematic human rights violations in the IIOJK.
He stressed that lasting peace and stability in South Asia depends on a just and durable solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and called for renewed international attention to the issue.
“On its part, Pakistan will continue its unwavering moral, diplomatic and political support to the people of IIOJK who continue to endure oppression on a daily basis. We stand united with our Kashmiri brothers in their struggle for justice, peace and self-determination,” the Presidential Secretariat Press Wing in a press release quoted the President as saying.
On this day in 1947, he said, Indian forces entered Srinagar in flagrant violation of international law, moral principles and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
Since then, generations of innocent men, women and children in the IIOJK have endured unimaginable suffering under occupation, characterized by violence, repression and denial of their basic rights, he added.
“Every year we celebrate this day as Kashmir Black Day to honor the valiant struggle and sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters who continue to resist tyranny in their pursuit of the inalienable right to self-determination. Despite decades of Indian brutality, the spirit of resistance among the Kashmiri people repeats unbroken,” said the President.
After 5 August 2019, President Zardari further said that this brutal campaign had only intensified, adding that India had unilaterally revoked the special status of occupied Kashmir, imposed a military siege, destroyed the properties of Kashmiris to inflict ‘collective punishment’ and enforce draconian laws that deprive them of their fundamental freedoms.
Echoing similar views, Prime Minister Shehbaz stressed that lasting peace and stability in South Asia would remain elusive without a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue.
“Each year, October 27 marks the darkest day in Kashmir’s history… Ever since that fateful day, India has continued to deny the Kashmiri people their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in numerous UN Security Council resolutions.”
“Each year, October 27 marks the darkest day in Kashmir’s history… Ever since that fateful day, India has continued to deny the Kashmiri people their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in numerous UN Security Council resolutions.”
The prime minister added: “Since 5 August 2019, India has further intensified its illegal and unilateral actions aimed at changing the demographics and political status of the IIOJK. In addition to human rights violations, massive restrictions on freedom of movement and expression have been imposed.”
“By imposing such draconian laws, India has unleashed a systematic campaign of violence and brutality to silence the legitimate political voices and crush the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. The illegal and unjustified imprisonment of several prominent Kashmiri leaders and activists, as well as media personalities, is a continuing ugly manifestation of this extremist, subversive Indian charge. is in flagrant violation of international human rights norms,” he noted.
“As Prime Minister of Pakistan, I have always highlighted the plight of my Kashmiri brothers and sisters to the international community and reiterated their calls for freedom from Indian occupation.
“We reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we will never relent in our commitment to the Kashmir cause until justice is done and the promise of self-determination promised by the international community is finally fulfilled. Inshallah, that day is not far,” the statement concluded.
