President Mamnoon, PM Abbasi urge int’l community to help resolve Kashmir issue

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday urged the international community to take notice of the gross human rights violations committed by the Indian security forces in Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK) and fulfill its obligations under the United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.

“The recent mindless killing spree carried out by the Indian security forces that took the lives of more than 20 Kashmiri youth and injured in excess of 200 unarmed protestors was a testament to the atrocities being perpetrated against innocent Kashmiris,” the president said in his message on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day.

He said, “In their historic struggle, the courageous and determined people of Indian occupied Kashmir have rendered great sacrifices. Indian state terrorism has failed to deter the people of occupied Kashmir from their struggle to win freedom from Indian oppression and exercise their right to self-determination.”

The president also said, “The government and the people of Pakistan reaffirm their moral, diplomatic and political support to the oppressed people of occupied Kashmir in their valiant struggle for the fundamental right to achieve self-determination.”

“Pakistan calls upon the international community to be aware of its responsibilities in

this connection and all modern nations should pressurise India to facilitate the visit of independent fact-finding teams of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) to look into the gross human rights violations in IOK, being perpetrated by Indian occupation forces, and to fulfil its obligations under the UN Security Council resolutions.

Similarly, PM Abbasi sought the help of the international community in sending fact-finding missions to IOK to investigate the gross human rights violations committed by the Indian occupation forces.

In a message on Kashmir Solidarity Day, the prime minister urged the world powers to raise their voice to help end the gross human rights violations and the reign of terror unleashed by the Indian occupation forces in IOK.

The prime minister said it was time to ask India to provide access to OHCHR and IPHRC fact-finding missions to investigate the human rights violations.

Abbasi said that for the past seven decades, the people of occupied Kashmir had waged an unprecedented struggle against brutal Indian repression.

He further said that the Kashmir dispute was an unfinished agenda of the partition of the Indo-Pak subcontinent and remains one of the oldest disputes on the agenda of the UN Security Council.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the systematic state terrorism and brutal killings of the people of IOK by Indian occupation forces,” he added.

The prime minister also criticised the house arrest of senior Hurriyat leadership by the Indian government in occupied Kashmir.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister (FM) Khawaja Asif said that India cannot resolve the Kashmir issue on ‘gunpoint’, saying that it was next to impossible.

Martyrdom of 20 Kashmiris in IOK during the last few days clearly showed the Indian policy of sorting out problems on gunpoint, he added.

In his message on Kashmir Solidarity Day, Asif said that Kashmiris have been engaged in a just struggle to achieve the right of self-determination since the last 70 years.

Meanwhile, people in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday observed the Kashmir Solidarity Day to show complete solidarity with the people of IOK in their just and principled struggle for the liberation of their motherland from Indian clutches.

The entire liberated territory of AJK echoed with the slogans of ‘Long Live Pakistan’ and ‘Long Live Kashmir Freedom Struggle’ during the day-long gatherings and rallies. The day was observed in Azad Kashmir in response to a call given by the federal cabinet of Pakistan.

Different programmes were held by the AJK government to commemorate the day. Events held in connection with the day were attended by people belonging to different walks of life, including religious leaders, social activists, the business community, legal fraternity, media representatives and students. The participants pledged to continue their support for the Kashmir freedom struggle under all circumstances.

The Kashmir Solidarity Day strongly condemned the recent spate of state terrorism unleashed by the Indian occupation forces under the draconian and black laws, including Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), Special Powers Act (SPA) and TADA, imposed by the Indian government in IOK in a bid to overcome the Kashmir freedom struggle.

A mammoth rally was taken out in Mirpur where thousands of people showed complete solidarity with the freedom-loving population of occupied Kashmir.

Wearing black bands around their arms to condemn Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir, the AJK Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Muhammad Saeed, and NEOC officials, including Mirpur Commissioner Muhammad Tayyeb and others, led the rally which passed through different routes before congregating at central Shaheed Chowk. The speakers thanked Pakistan for its unequivocal support to the Kashmir freedom struggle.

Meanwhile, the AJK government decided to hold an All Parties Conference on Saturday (April 7) to give a strong message to India to stop its reign of terror in the valley and urged the Indian government to stop its cowardly action in occupied Kashmir.