Special Committee of the Parliament on Kashmir Chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said Pakistan would continue its support for the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination. He said the United Nations had accepted this right in its January 5, 1949, resolution on Kashmir, calling upon India and Pakistan to hold a plebiscite in the State of Jammu and Kashmir to determine the Kashmiris’ aspirations. He said both Pakistan and India had accepted this resolution and had promised to extend this right in a plebiscite. He said, “India knows that Kashmiris will never give a decision in its favour because it has occupied the state against their wishes, and is delaying the plebiscite on one pretext or the other.” The Kashmir Committee chairman said the United Nations and other international bodies such as the Non-Aligned Movement have also accepted the right of self-determination as fundamental. The struggle for this right has been declared genuine and not terrorism, he said. Pakistan honours UN resolutions and is duty bound to implement them, he added. Rehman said Pakistan desires peaceful relations with its neighbours, which is why it has initiated dialogues with India, however it will not ignore the Kashmir cause or leave it in a lurch.
