- The president urges the world community to enforce UN Security Council resolutions.
- PM Shehbaz criticizes India for imposing draconian laws in IIOJK.
- He says Pakistan is resolutely on the side of 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 celebrate Black Day to remember and protest the entry of Indian military forces into Jammu and Kashmir in 1947.
In their separate messages issued on the occasion of Kashmir Black Day, both leaders called on the international community to take tangible steps towards peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.
President Zardari called on the United Nations, global human rights bodies and the international community to hold India accountable for the gross and systematic human rights violations committed in IIOJK.
He stressed that lasting peace and stability in South Asia depends on a just and lasting solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and urged renewed international attention to the issue.
“For its part, Pakistan will continue to extend its unwavering moral, diplomatic and political support to the people of IIOJK who continue to endure oppression on a daily basis. We stand united with our Kashmiri brothers in their struggle for justice, peace and self-determination,” the President was quoted as saying in a press release by the Press Wing of the Presidential Secretariat.
On this day in 1947, he said, Indian forces entered Srinagar in flagrant violation of international law, moral principles and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.
Since then, generations of innocent men, women and children in IIOJK have endured unimaginable suffering under the occupation, marked by violence, repression and the denial of their fundamental rights, he added.
“Every year, we observe this day as Kashmir Black Day to honor the brave struggle and sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters who continue to resist tyranny in their pursuit of the inalienable right to self-determination. Despite decades of Indian brutality, the spirit of resistance among the people of Kashmir remains intact,” the President reiterated.
After August 5, 2019, President Zardari further said that this brutal campaign had only intensified, adding that India had unilaterally revoked the special status of occupied Kashmir, imposing a military siege, destroying property of Kashmiris to inflict “collective punishment” and implementing draconian laws that strip the people of Kashmir of their fundamental freedoms.
Echoing similar views, Prime Minister Shehbaz emphasized that lasting peace and stability in South Asia will remain elusive without a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue.
“Every year, October 27 marks the darkest day in the history of Kashmir… Since that fateful day, India has continued to deny the people of Kashmir their inalienable right to self-determination, 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 has continued to deny the people of Kashmir their inalienable right to self-determination, enshrined in numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
The Prime Minister added: “Since August 5, 2019, India has further escalated its illegal and unilateral actions, aimed at altering the demographics and political status of IIOJK. In addition to human rights abuses, 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 people of Kashmir. The illegal and unjustified imprisonment of several prominent Kashmiri leaders and activists, as well as media personalities, is an ugly manifestation of this Indian extremist agenda. Their continued imprisonment, under charges invented, it is a flagrant violation of international human rights standards,” he said.
“As Prime Minister of Pakistan, I have always highlighted the plight of my Kashmiri brothers and sisters to 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 served and the promise of self-determination promised by the international community is finally fulfilled. Inshallah, that day is not far away,” the statement concluded.
