ISLAMABAD:
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday paid tribute to the 22 Kashmiris who were martyred during the uprising against Dogra rule in 1931, marking the 95th Kashmir Martyrs’ Day (Youm-e-Shuhada-e-Kashmir).
Kashmir Martyrs Day is celebrated on 13 July.
“On this grim day, the people of Pakistan join their Kashmiri brothers in commemorating the sacrifice of the martyrs of 1931. Unfortunately, the Kashmiris are still fighting against India’s illegal occupation,” the Presidential Secretariat’s Media Wing quoted the President as saying in a statement.
Even today, the President said, over 900,000 Indian occupation forces continued to hold the Kashmiri population hostage to maintain the wrongful occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.
India’s illegal and unilateral actions on 5 August 2019 were yet another attempt to deprive the Kashmiri people of their distinct identity and make them a minority in their own country, he added.
President Zardari said India scrapped the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day regional holiday, which had been held every year since 1948. India also canceled the traditional Guard of Honor ceremony at the Martyrs’ Cemetery.
“As we honor the priceless sacrifice of the heroes of 1931 as well as all innocent Kashmiris who have laid down their lives in this just struggle, we urge India to immediately end the repression in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), stop all human rights violations, and cancel all its political attempts to change the military prisoners, and cancel the political prisoners of the occupied territory,” said the president.
He urged the international community to play its due role in ensuring respect for human rights in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to support efforts for a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Separately, the Prime Minister said the Government of Pakistan reiterates its unwavering political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We stand in complete solidarity with their just struggle for the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council,” he said in a statement.
“Lasting peace and stability in South Asia remains contingent on a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” he added.
“Their sacrifice marked a defining moment in the political awakening of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their struggle for dignity, fundamental rights and identity.”
The premier noted that Kashmir Martyrs’ Day also symbolizes the resilience, courage and unwavering determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who have inspired generations to continue their righteous struggle for justice and the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.
