— Imran urges world to hold India accountable for rights violations
— Gen Bajwa says it’s time to end ‘human tragedy’
— Alvi leads ‘solidarity walk’, predicts Kashmir freedom not far off
ISLAMABAD: Top civilian and military leadership said Islamabad had a “complete and continuing commitment” to Kashmir as the nation and people living on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) dividing the Himalayan region between Pakistan and India observed annual solidarity day.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he, being an “ambassador of Kashmir”, reassured Pakistan’s support to the people of Kashmir, urging the international community to hold India accountable for her gross violations of rights in the occupied region.
“It is time for the international community to make India accountable for its heinous crimes in Kashmir and to work towards a just and peaceful settlement of the dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the people,” the prime minister said in his message on Kashmir Day observed on February 5 every year.
The nation commemorates the day to reaffirm its unwavering support to the people of Kashmir in their struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination.
Khan said the region was an internationally recognised dispute, the resolution of which was firmly anchored in the relevant UNSC resolutions.
He said the rights situation in the region had continued to worsen following India’s revocation of the special status of the disputed region on August 5, 2019.
The inhumane military siege, which has remained in place for almost two and a half years now, has resulted in the martyrdom of hundreds of people, most of them Muslims, he added.
The prime minister said the Indian forces continued to use brute force indiscriminately against men, women, children and the elderly.
“The youth have been particularly targeted in their campaign of unabated repression. The most oppressive illustrations of this are the use of pellet guns and destruction of entire neighbourhoods, including collective punishments on communities,” he remarked.
Khan said the unending killing spree, arbitrary arrests of people and rights defenders, and refusal to hand over the mortal remains of dead by occupation forces were a matter of grave concern for people across the world.
He said India had unleashed the worst form of state terrorism to break the will of the Kashmiri people and crush their legitimate struggle.
“The whole Indian state machinery is involved in these unspeakable crimes against humanity. The over 900,000 troops continue to terrorize the Kashmiris through an assault on their distinct identity and culture through illegal demographic changes and economic marginalization,” he said.
The prime minister said the Indian actions, aimed at converting the Muslim majority in the region into a minority in their own land, were in violation of the UNSC resolutions and international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.
He said the pattern of ongoing atrocities in the region reflected the anti-peace and anti-Muslim Hindutva agenda of radical Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS-BJP) dispensation.
India has not reciprocated Pakistan’s efforts for peace and stability. Through its machinations, India has destabilised the entire South Asian region. Her illegal and unilateral steps were rejected by Pakistan and the people of Kashmir, he reiterated.
Khan viewed the durable peace, security and development in the region hinged on the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
It is imperative that India let the people of Kashmir exercise their right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the UN without further prevarication, he added.
‘FREEDOM NOT FAR OFF’
President Dr Arif Alvi said Pakistan wanted a peaceful resolution of the dispute in accordance with the resolutions of the UNSC, guaranteeing the right of self-determination to the oppressed people.
The president said Kashmir had never been a part of India and Pakistan did not even recognise the application of the Indian constitution — which “illegally” enlisted the occupied territory as its part — over the mountainous region.
The president was leading a walk participated in by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar, Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir Chairman Shehryar Afridi, Minister for Interior Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed, MPs, media and a large number of people.
The solidarity walk was taken out in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) at Constitutional Avenue and ended at D-Chowk.
The participants carried placards and banners, and raised slogans, expressing moral, diplomatic and political support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for their right to self-determination.
The president said the day was not far when the oppressed people of Kashmir would get freedom from the Indian clutches. He called upon the international community to ensure the implementation of its promises made to the people.
Alvi said that in order to suppress the freedom voices, the Indian troops had imposed a complete lockdown in occupied Kashmir and there had been a blanket media ban so that the voices of the locals and images highlighting continuous Indian atrocities could be gouged.
He said: “The hearts of people of Pakistan and Kashmiri people beat together, when there is bloodshed in Kashmir, the people in Pakistan are hurt.”
The president said Pakistan had been reminding the world to honour its commitment to the people of Kashmir.
Lauding their sacrifices, he said founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah had termed Kashmir a jugular vein of Pakistan and its people were proving it by shedding their blood.
He also referred to late All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader Syed Ali Geelani’s statement that both Kashmir and Pakistan belonged to them.
The president said, on this day, he wanted to reinforce such sentiments.
He said with August 5 actions, New Delhi had violated the UNSC resolutions, Geneva Convention and their charters. It also breached its promises made with the international community.
The president said to silence the voices, Indian forces in the region were conducting cordon and search operations, ensuing fake encounters with the imposition of curfew whereas putting local leaders under house arrest.
They even did not allow people to attend Geelani’s funeral.
The president reiterating Pakistan’s moral, diplomatic and political support to the people of Kashmir, said that Indian cruelties had been continuing unabated during the last seven decades.
India took the issue to the UN and Pakistan reposed trust in the global body to resolve it, he said, lamenting that due to the vested interests, morality no longer had any value in the materialistic world.
All the suppressed people across the world had been looking towards an organisation to come to their rescue, he added.
The president said there had been institutionalised crimes committed against the people of Kashmir, including sexual assault and the use of pellet guns.
Alvi dared India to use pellet guns in any part of India. New Delhi had been using the Israeli model to suppress the pro-freedom voices.
The president also denounced the demographic changes being made in Kashmir. He said India would not succeed in its nefarious designs.
“Pakistan stands with Kashmir and will continue to stand as it is part of our body,” he maintained.
The president said Pakistan had given a befitting reply over the 2019 Balakot intrusions and was ready to respond to any Indian aggression with full might.
The president reiterated that the Indian government should open Kashmir to independent media, and international delegations to witness the ground situation there.
He said the holding of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) showed the world the contrasting pictures of Azad Kashmir and its occupied counterpart.
‘HUMAN TRAGEDY’
Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa reiterated the nation’s desire to resolve the dispute as per the aspirations of the people of the region and the UN resolutions.
In a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Bajwa paid tribute to the people of Kashmir, their resolve and valiant struggle.
He said the people of Kashmir are “braving gravest human rights violations [and] lockdown in [Kashmir] under Indian occupation forces”.
“[It is] time to end this human tragedy [and] resolve Kashmir issue as per aspirations of people of [Kashmir and] UN resolutions,” he stressed.
