ISLAMABAD:
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday paid homage to the 22 Kashmiris martyred during the 1931 uprising against the Dogra regime, marking the 95th Kashmir Martyrs’ Day (Youm-e-Shuhada-e-Kashmir).
Kashmir Martyrs’ Day is celebrated on July 13.
“On this dark day, the people of Pakistan join their Kashmiri brothers in commemorating the sacrifice of the martyrs of 1931. Sadly, Kashmiris are still fighting against India’s illegal occupation,” a statement quoted the president as saying.
Even today, the President said, more than 900,000 Indian occupying forces continue to take the Kashmiri people hostage in order to perpetuate the illicit occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.
India’s illegal and unilateral actions on August 5, 2019, are yet another attempt to deprive the Kashmiri people of their distinct identity and make them a minority in their own territory, he added.
President Zardari said India had scrapped the regional holiday of Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, celebrated every year since 1948. India also scrapped the traditional Guard of Honor ceremony at the Martyrs’ Graveyard.
“As we honor the inestimable sacrifice of the heroes of 1931 as well as all innocent Kashmiris who laid down their lives in this just struggle, we urge India to immediately end the repression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), cease all human rights violations, release all political prisoners, lift the military siege and end its attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory,” the President said.
He urged the international community to play its due role in ensuring respect for human rights in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and support efforts to peacefully resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said that the Government of Pakistan reiterates its unwavering political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We are in complete solidarity with their just struggle for the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” he said in a statement.
“Long-lasting peace and stability in South Asia depends on the peaceful resolution of the dispute in Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” he added.
“Their sacrifice marked a defining moment in the political awakening of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their struggle for dignity, fundamental rights and identity.”
The Prime Minister noted that Kashmir Martyrs’ Day also symbolizes the resilience, courage and unwavering determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, which have inspired generations to continue their just struggle for justice and realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.
