01:31 AM
11:31 PM
27th October marks the beginning of a dark chapter in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. On this day, seventy-six years ago, the Indian forces landed in Srinagar to occupy this territory.
In the subsequent years,
the United Nations Security Council, through
several
of its resolutions, upheld the
fundamental right of the Kashmiri people to decide their own
future through a fair and impartial plebiscite. However, reneging on its
repeated commitments
to
implement these resolutions, India continues to deny the Kashmiri people their
inalienable right to self-determination.
Since 5 August 2019, India has triggered a
process to further consolidate its occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, and to
disempower the Kashmiri people in their own land. To achieve these
goals,
multi-faceted
attempts to change the demographic structure and political landscape of the
Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) are being made.
The Indian Occupation is bent upon suppressing
any
form
of
dissent. Extreme
restrictions
on freedom of expression
and
assembly are in place. Thousands of political leaders and activists remain incarcerated.
Jammu and Kashmir's brave sons and daughters have valiantly
resisted
all Indian attempts at coercion
and control. I avail this opportunity to pay homage to the martyrs for the Kashmir Cause and victims of the
Indian
brutalities. India
has failed
to subjugate
the
Kashmiri people because of their selfless sacrifices.
Peace in South Asia remains a high priority for
Pakistan. It desires peaceful ties with all its neighbors, including India. However, for
a durable
peace in the region, the Jammu and Kashmir dispute needs to be
resolved in accordance
with
the
UN Security
Council
Resolutions
and aspirations
of
the Kashmiri people.
In the last seven decades and a half, successive generations
of
Kashmiris have waited for the United Nations to
deliver on its commitments. The international community must urge India to stop the ongoing
human rights violations in IIOJK; reverse
the unilateral and illegal actions of 5 August 2019; and implement
the UN Security Council Resolutions.
For its part, Pakistan stands in complete
solidarity with the Kashmiri people in their struggle for
realization of their
inalienable right
to self-determination.
It will
continue to extend its full political, moral and diplomatic support to their just struggle.