NEW YORK: Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on Wednesday said securing a resolution for the Kashmir dispute was crucial in view of the massive suffering faced by the people of the occupied region and as a threat to regional and international peace and security.
In a statement issued on the commemoration of Martyrs’ Day, Akram said India’s occupation forces had killed over 100,000 people in Kashmir since 1985 with the initiation of their struggle to secure the legitimate right to self-determination as promised to them by the resolutions of the Security Council.
“This day is commemorated each year by Kashmiri people and people of Pakistan all over the world to honour the 22 Kashmiris who were martyred by the Maharaja’s Dogra Forces within the premises of Srinagar Central Jail on 13 July,” he said.
91 years on, he said, the brutal oppression of the people of Kashmir continued to this day.
Akram said India had further intensified its campaign of oppression since its unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019.
He mentioned that hundreds of people had been killed in staged encounters, thousands of youth detained and many disappeared or extrajudicially killed in custody.
He pointed out that Kashmiri leaders remain incarcerated while fundamental human rights including the rights to assembly and free expression were also curbed.
“Kashmir has been turned into the largest open-air prison,” he said.
He reaffirmed the full solidarity of the government of Pakistan with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their just struggle for freedom through the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions.
“The day is not far when the brutal Indian occupation will end and the sacrifices of the martyrs will usher in the dawn of freedom for Kashmiri people,” he said.
