Islamabad (Web Desk): President Dr Arif Alvi and Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar reiterated Pakistan’s continued support for Kashmiris’ right to self-determination as Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and the world over are observing the Right to Self-Determination Day today (Friday).
In his message on the occasion, President Dr Arif Alvi said that Pakistan remains determined to playing its role in supporting the right to self-determination of Kashmiris through a free and impartial plebiscite as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
“Our strong and steadfast moral, political and diplomatic support for the Kashmiri people will continue till the realisation of this inalienable right,” the president said.
“Every year, on the 5th of January, we renew our support for the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. On this day in 1949, the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) unanimously adopted a resolution affirming the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations,” he added.
“The right to self-determination is a cardinal principle of international law, upheld in numerous core United Nations treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”
President Alvi said, “For decades, it has been reaffirmed by the UN General Assembly in its annual resolution on self-determination. However, the last 76 years of India’s occupation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) are a sad story of repression of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“India is trying to consolidate its occupation of IIOJK. The Indian Supreme Court’s judgment of 11th December 2023 on the status of this disputed territory is the latest step in this direction. India is striving to subjugate the Kashmiris through such oppressive tactics further. It continues to deny their inalienable right to self-determination and live with freedom and dignity,” he observed.
“Today’s commemoration is aimed at reminding the international community of its responsibility towards the oppressed Kashmiri people. The United Nations must honour the commitments that it had made 75 years ago and support the Kashmiri people’s struggle for self-determination,” he concluded.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, in his message in connection with the Kashmiris Right to Self Determination Day, said that the international community especially the UN, bears the responsibility to ensure that the people of IIOJK exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.
He regretted that despite more than seven and a half decades, the oppressed people of IIOJK have not been able to exercise this fundamental right.
PM Kakar said that India continues to oppress the people of Jammu and Kashmir to break their will.
“Since August 5, 2019, India is engaged in a vicious exercise, aimed at altering the demographic structure and political landscape of IIOJK, with a view to turning Kashmiris into a disempowered community in their own land,” he said.
PM Kakar said that the Indian supreme court’s recent verdict on the status of IIOJK is yet another step towards the denial of the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.
The genuine aspirations of the Kashmiris cannot be wished away through domestic legislation and engineered judicial verdicts.
He said Pakistan will continue to extend its full political, diplomatic and moral support to the valiant Kashmiri people in their just struggle for their rights including the inalienable right to self-determination, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UNSC.