Today, Embassy Pakistan organized a Round Table Discussion on “Kashmiris’ Right to Determination”. The event was organized in connection with UN’s Right to Self Determination Day and was attended by journalists, writers and analysts as well human rights activists.
In his message, President Arif Alvi recalled adoption of resolution by United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan (UNCIP) on 05 January 1949, guaranteeing a free and impartial plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir. He added that despite lapse of decades, Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains unresolved due India’s obstinate refusal to honour its commitments and its disrespect for the fundamental human rights and international law.
He also highlighted Indian illegal & inhuman actions of extra-judicial killings, fake encounters, arbitrary detention of Kashmiri journalists and human rights defenders, communication blackouts, incarceration of Kashmiri political leaders, violent suppression of peaceful Kashmiri protests, use of pellet guns and demolition of entire neighborhoods and villages as collective punishment.
In his message, Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated Pakistan’s committment to uphold the fundamental human rights of people Jammu and Kashmir and pay homage to Kashmiris’ just struggle spanning more than seven decades. He said that three generations of Kashmiris have waited for the world community and the United Nations to honor their solemn commitments made to Kashmiris.
He mentioned that with the presence of 900,000 troops, India has turned the occupied territory into the largest open-air prison and the most militarized zone in the world. He also criticised India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August, 2019 and its subsequent measures aimed at changing demographic structure of IIOJK and converting the Kashmiris into a minority in their own land.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged India to allow UN fact finding mission to IIOJK to investigate the reports of grave human rights violations there. Mr. Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong and steadfast support to the valiant Kashmiri people in their just struggle for human dignity and their unalienable right to self-determination in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Ambassador Syed Haider Shah traced the genesis of the long-standing dispute and the adoption of UNSC resolutions promising the people of Jammu and Kashmir their right to self-determination. He said that the continuing non-implementation of these resolutions jeopardized the peace and stability of the region.
Participants at the event expressed serious concern over the worsening human rights situation in Kashmir resulting from more than two years of clamp down on millions of people in the occupied territory.
The event concluded with a Q&A session.
Kathmandu
06 January 2022
