Pakistan supports Kashmir cause: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan’s rock-solid support to the Kashmir cause remains as steadfast as ever and the nation’s greatest asset is the national consensus on this core issue.

“In fact, love for Kashmir and allegiance to this just cause remains an element of fact in every stratum of our society. This was the reason our beloved Quaid referred to Kashmir as Pakistan’s jugular vein. It runs in our blood,” the PM said in his message on the ‘Kashmir Black Day’ being observed today (October 27).

He reiterated the only solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute lies in ensuring that the Kashmiris are allowed to exercise their right to self-determination, through the democratic process of holding a UN-mandated free and impartial plebiscite, as espoused in the relevant UNSC resolutions and as per the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

“Today, with a heavy heart, we mark yet another Kashmir Black Day. On October 27, 1947, seventy-five years ago, India forcibly landed its troops in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and continues to forcibly and illegally occupy this territory ever since,” he added.

The PM said his message to all Kashmiri brothers and sisters on this sombre occasion is simple. “Pakistan will always stand by you, no matter what the cost. We are your voice to the world. Our support and solidarity is abiding. We will not rest until you secure your legitimate right to self-determination and the day is not far away,” he said.

He observed that in order to perpetuate its forcible occupation of IIOJ&K, India has amassed more than 900,000 armed troops in the territory. “Torture, illegal detentions, implication in fictitious cases, indiscriminate use of force under the impunity of draconian laws and systemised campaigns to rob the Kashmiris of their distinct cultural and religious identities mark the reality of India’s brutal occupation of the occupied territory,” the PM observed.

He recalled that the situation has worsened since India’s illegal and unilateral revocation of the special status of the IIOJ&K on August 5, 2019. “Around 690 extra-judicial killings of innocent Kashmiris have taken place at the hands of the Indian occupation forces in the last three years,” the PM added. Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi has reiterated Pakistan’s call for an immediate reversal of the Indian government’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, urging the international community to take practical steps to hold India accountable for its egregious human rights violations in the IIOJ&K.

The president, in his message on the Kashmir Black Day, also called upon the world community to play its part in facilitating a peaceful and just resolution of the long-standing dispute of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the relevant Security Council’s Resolutions and the wishes of Kashmiri people.

He said this year, October 27 marked the completion of 75 years of the illegal occupation of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K). “We observe Kashmir Black Day to remember the sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their just struggle for their right to self-determination by condemning the ongoing atrocities of Indian occupation forces over the last seven and a half decades,” he remarked. He said the entire nation reaffirmed unwavering support to their Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their just struggle for freedom. He said many generations of the innocent Kashmiri men, women and children had known nothing but Indian brutality, bloodshed and torture. The IIOJ&K remains under the Indian military siege, exacerbated by draconian curbs on fundamental freedoms of the people of the occupied territory, he added. President Alvi said the situation had worsened considerably over the last three years with India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 which stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status under the Indian Constitution. “These actions violate the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) resolutions which stipulate that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir would be made in accordance with the will of the people of Kashmir through a free and impartial plebiscite to be conducted under the auspices of the United Nations,” he said.

Adviser to the PM on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira said the Kashmir issue was linked with the sentiments of the people of Pakistan and no government dared to compromise on it and assured them full support in their struggle for right to self-determination.

Addressing a press conference, along with Chairman Kashmir Committee Syed Basit Bukhari and Hurriyat leaders Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Faiz Naqashbandi and Mehmood Ahmad Saghar, he termed the Indian subjugation of Kashmiris a gross violation of human rights and stressed for awakening the consciousness of the international community.

He said October 27 was the blackest day in the world history when India, on this day in 1947, landed its 80,000 army personnel in Kashmir and illegally occupied the valley against the will of the people. Now in the presence of Indian Army consisting of one million personnel, the worst atrocities against the innocent Kashmiris were continuing but failed to demoralise their courage, he added.