Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday has reiterated Pakistan’s steadfast support for the people of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), reminding the international community especially the United Nations Security Council, of the imperative of honouring its commitment in this regard.
The prime minister vowed support to the Kashmiris in connection with the observance of Kashmiris Right to Self-determination Day on January 5.
“We call on the international community to take action against the well-documented human rights violations being committed with impunity by Indian occupation forces against innocent Kashmiri men, women and children; and to ensure Kashmiris get their right to self-determination,” he wrote on Twitter.
Despite suffering 73 years of brutal Indian occupation, the premier said generation after generation of the Kashmiri people remained steadfast in the demand for their inalienable right to self-determination as guaranteed to them under the UN Charter and by the UNSC (United Nations Security Council).
PM Imran said that on the 5th of January, 1949, the United Nations guaranteed the right to self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir through an impartial plebiscite.
“We observe this day as a reminder to the UN & its member states of their unfulfilled commitment to the Kashmiri people,” he added.
The prime minister said that being a direct party to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, Pakistan will continue to underscore the imperative of holding a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices in accordance with UNSC resolutions.
‘Over 7 decades of state-sponsored cruelty and terrorism’
The importance of the inalienable right to self-determination, the prime minister said, has been acknowledged in various human rights covenants.
Owing to Indian intransigence, the Security Council has failed to fulfil its pledge to the Kashmiri people, he added.
PM Imran said for over seven decades, the life of Kashmiris in IoK has been a chronicle of state-sponsored cruelty and terrorism.
Around 900,000 occupation forces have converted the region into the largest militarized zone in the world.
He added: “Post-5th August 2019, India unleashed a new reign of terror in the region, maintaining an inhuman military siege, perpetrating egregious violations of human rights of innocent people, especially women, children and the elderly with unprecedented impunity, and seeking to illegally change the demographic structure of the occupied territory.”
‘World must ensure human rights’
The prime minister said the world must ensure that human rights abuses do not go unpunished and that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity are held accountable.
For more than 500 days now, the prime minister said, Indian occupation forces have been brutalising the besieged innocent Kashmiris, brazenly denying their basic rights of communication, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and above all, freedom to determine their own future.
“Kashmiris have been deprived of their fundamental rights to life, food, and health despite the rampant COVID-19 pandemic. The recent spate of unprecedented Indian state-sponsored terrorism in IHK and discriminatory steps against minorities, especially Muslims, are a clear manifestation of the Hindutva ideology espoused by the RSS-inspired BJP regime,” he lamented.
