International Solidarity Day for Kashmir
Source: Pakistan Embassy in Jakarta
Every year on February 5th, Pakistanis and Kashmiris from around the world express solidarity with their brothers and sisters in India’s Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Solidarity also pays tribute to their unparalleled commitment to the attainment of their legitimate right to self-determination.
The whole nation of Pakistan stands with the Kashmiris. It is their firm belief that they will succeed in their valiant struggle to secure freedom from oppression and illegal occupation.
This struggle will continue until the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.
Self-determination is one of the basic rights codified in all major human rights instruments as well as in the United Nations Charter. This denial of the rights and subjugation of Kashmiris at IIOJK is a denial of human dignity.
The Jammu and Kashmir dispute is one of the oldest items on the UN Security Council agenda. The dispute remains unresolved due to India’s vehement refusal to honor its commitments and its disrespect for human rights and international law.
For more than seven decades, it has been a battle of hope against overwhelming odds, courage against fear, and sacrifice against tyranny. But through it all, the Kashmiri people have endured and stood firm in the face of India’s continuing campaign of brutalization. The Indian campaign which has used every inhuman tactic and draconian laws to perpetuate the illegal occupation of India’s Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
India’s uses of state terrorism against Kashmiris include extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, fake gatherings, planned guard and search operations, torture detentions, enforced disappearances, detention of Kashmiri leadership, use of pellet guns, and house demolitions.
More than 900,000 Indian occupation forces have turned IIOJK into an open prison. However, the desperation of the RSS-BJP dispensation to control the indigenous Kashmiri movement has completely foundered.
India’s illegal and unilateral act of 5 August 2019 is a blatant violation of international law including the UN Charter, 4th Geneva Convention and UN Security Council resolutions. The resolution stipulates that the final disposition of the state of Jammu and Kashmir will be made according to the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
India has started the depopulation of Kashmiri Muslims by confiscating their lands and bringing non-Kashmirs to settle at the IIOJK.
Demographic apartheid at IIOJK by the Indian Occupation Forces is a further violation of international law whereby the majority of Kashmiris are turned into a minority on their own land. These steps are a constant reminder to the world community of Indian State terrorism, being carried out day after day against innocent Kashmiri men, women and children.
India’s actions have caused serious damage to peace efforts in an already volatile region. India’s refusal to grant the right to self-determination has serious implications for South Asia and beyond.
To distract from the humanitarian catastrophe at IIOJK, India has started a campaign to slander Pakistan internationally through a joint propaganda campaign while sponsoring terrorism against Pakistan. The campaign is as revealed by Pakistani documents on Indian-sponsored terrorism and disinformation against Pakistan.
The internationally recognized EU DisinfoLab has exposed manipulation and rogue attempts to mislead the UN system and the EU Parliament using fake NGOs and fake news websites to denigrate Pakistan.
A high-ranking Indian official has admitted to playing politics at the FATF and using his influence to keep Pakistan on the gray list. All of this raises important questions for Pakistan and the region: Is the current Indian government a rational actor or an ideologically motivated regime that cannot be trusted?
The struggle in Kashmir is indigenous and has always had popular support against Indian military occupation. Through its latest actions, warring India has lost quite a bit of the support it claims at IIOJK.
Kashmiris have always shown courage, toughness and perseverance in the face of injustice and state brutality. They will fight against the Indian occupation until they achieve their political rights, which are guaranteed by the international community under UNSC resolutions.
Pakistan reiterates its call to the international community to take practical steps to hold India to account for the gross and widespread human rights violations at the IIOJK. A just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with international legitimacy is the only way to ensure peace and lasting development in the region.
Peace, security and lasting development in South Asia depend on the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. It is imperative that India let Kashmiris exercise their right of self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations without further deviation.
The international community must demand an end to India’s gross and widespread human rights violations at IIOJK; reversal of unilateral and illegal actions on August 5, 2019; repeal of cruel laws; unrestricted access to UN-supervised investigations into extrajudicial execution cases, and implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
On its part, Pakistan will continue to provide all the support it can to their Kashmiri brothers and sisters.
Pakistan will continue to raise world awareness of the plight of Kashmiris. Pakistan also urges the nations of the world and reminds them that they are indebted to the Kashmiri people and to humanitarian principles to let Kashmiris decide their own future as enshrined in the UNSC resolutions.
Kashmir remains an unfulfilled promise to the conscience of the world. The day that the Kashmiri people will be free from Indian occupation is not long away. (T/RE1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
