- The President urges the global community to implement UN Security Council resolutions.
- PM Shehbaz criticizes India for imposing draconian laws on IIOJK.
- He said Pakistan stands resolutely with the people of Kashmir.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering support to the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in their struggle for the right to self-determination.
Every year on October 27, Pakistanis and Kashmiris across the world observe Black Day to commemorate and protest the entry of Indian military forces into Jammu and Kashmir in 1947.
In their separate messages issued on the occasion of Kashmir’s Black Day, the two leaders appealed to the international community to take concrete steps towards a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir conflict, in line with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
President Zardari called on the United Nations, global human rights bodies and the international community to hold India accountable for serious and systematic human rights violations in the IIOJK.
He stressed that lasting peace and stability in South Asia depended on a just and lasting settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, calling for renewed international attention to the issue.
“On its part, Pakistan will continue its unwavering moral, diplomatic and political support to the people of IIOJK who continue to face oppression on a daily basis. We are united with our Kashmiri brothers in their struggle for justice, peace and self-determination,” the Chairman, Press Wing Secretariat, said in a press release, quoting the President.
On this day in 1947, he said, Indian forces entered Srinagar in flagrant violation of international law, moral principles and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
Since then, generations of innocent men, women and children of IIOJK have endured unimaginable suffering under occupation, marked by violence, repression and denial of their basic rights, he added.
“Every year, we observe this day as Kashmir’s Black Day to honor the valiant struggle and sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters who continue to resist tyranny in their quest for the inalienable right to self-determination. Despite decades of Indian brutality, the spirit of resistance among the Kashmiri people remains unbroken,” the President reiterated.
After August 5, 2019, President Zardari further stated that this brutal campaign had only intensified, adding that India had unilaterally revoked the special status of occupied Kashmir, imposing a military siege, destroying the properties of Kashmiris to inflict “collective punishment” on them, and implementing draconian laws that deprive the Kashmiri people of their fundamental freedoms.
Echoing similar views, Prime Minister Shehbaz stressed that lasting peace and stability in South Asia would remain elusive without a just and peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue.
“Every year, October 27 marks the darkest day in the history of Kashmir…Since that fateful day, India continues to deny the Kashmiri people their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
“Every year, October 27 marks the darkest day in the history of Kashmir…Since that fateful day, India continues to deny the Kashmiri people their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
The Prime Minister added, “Since August 5, 2019, India has further intensified its illegal and unilateral actions, aimed at changing the demographics and political status of the IIOJK. In addition to human rights violations, massive restrictions have been imposed on freedom of movement and expression.”
“By imposing such draconian laws, India has unleashed a systematic campaign of violence and brutality to silence legitimate political voices and crush the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. The illegal and unjustified incarceration of several prominent Kashmiri leaders and activists, as well as media figures, is an ugly manifestation of this Indian extremist agenda. Their continued detention, on trumped-up charges parts, is in flagrant violation of international human rights standards,” he stressed.
“As Prime Minister of Pakistan, I have always highlighted the plight of my Kashmiri brothers and sisters before the international community and echoed their calls for freedom from Indian occupation.
“We reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and will never relent in our commitment to the cause of Kashmir, until justice is done and the promise of self-determination promised by the international community is finally fulfilled. Inshallah, that day is not far away,” the statement concluded.
