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Pakistan is observing Kashmir Solidarity Day on Monday to reaffirm the nation’s unwavering support to the relentless struggle of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination under United Nations (UN) resolutions.
The people and the government of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir observe Solidarity Day every year not only to renew their love and affection with the people of occupied Kashmir but also to reiterate their commitment and dedication to the liberation of Kashmir from Indian subjugation.
In a statement, interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said that this was an occasion to pay rich tribute to the sacrifices made by the Kashmiris during the last seventy-six years.
According to state-run Radio Pakistan, he said that the relevant UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions provided that the final disposition of held Kashmir would be made as per the will of the people through the “democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite” conducted under the UN.
In his message, President Dr Arif Alvi said that the people of the occupied valley had been struggling to realise their right to self-determination for 76 years.
He noted that the UN General Assembly annually adopted a resolution expressing unequivocal support for the realisation of the right to self-determination for people under foreign occupation, Radio Pakistan reported.
“Regrettably, the Kashmiri people have not been able to exercise this inalienable right,” Alvi said.
He further said that Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) was “one of the most militarised zones in the world” where “Kashmiris are living in an environment of fear and intimidation.”
The president said that following August 5, 2019 — when India had revoked the region’s special autonomy — India’s efforts were aimed at “engineering demographic and political changes so that the Kashmiris are transformed into a disempowered community in their own land”.
Meanwhile, caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said IIOJK was one of the longest-standing issues on UNSC’s agenda.
He said Pakistan’s ultimate goal was to resolve the issue in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people and the relevant UN resolutions.
Solangi, alongside Privatisation Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad, also took part in a rally in Islamabad in connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the party’s success on February 8, when general elections are scheduled to take place, was essential for stopping Indian atrocities in held Kashmir
“God willingly, I will advance the cause of Kashmir after being elected prime minister,” Bilawal said in a statement posted by the party on social media platform X.
In a separate post, Bilawal said, “On Kashmir Solidarity Day, we stand firmly with IIOJK’s courageous struggle for self-determination, a right granted by UNSC resolutions.
“India’s actions on August 5, 2019, were a blatant violation of international law, contradicting UNSC mandates on the disputed territory. We honour the Kashmiri peoples struggle for peace, freedom, security, and dignity, and stand steadfast with them in their cause,” he said.
PPP’s Sherry Rehman said Pakistan needed to remind the world to stand with the Kashmiri people in search of their rights which were taken for granted by “everyone else”.
“It is a poignant reminder of the unfinished business of Partition, and the denial of the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, leaving the region with an open wound that can only be healed by a fair and just solution for the long-standing issue of Kashmir in line with UN resolutions,” she said.
“We strongly condemn the human rights violations and atrocities perpetrated in Indian illegally occupied Kashmir. Salute to the resilience of the Kashmiri people in their struggle for the right to self-determination,” she added.