President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have reiterated Pakistan's moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in their just and peaceful struggle for right to self-determination.

In their separate messages on Right to Self-Determination Day being observed on Monday, they said this date marks the adoption of a United Nations resolution in 1949 that recognized the right of people in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to determine their future through a free and impartial plebiscite. 

The President said the solemn commitment remains unfulfilled despite passage of seven decades.   The Prime Minister said the world must recognize that a just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is the only way to achieve durable peace in South Asia. He urged the international community to urgently call upon India to reverse its unilateral and illegal actions of 5 August 2019 and give the right to self-determination to the Kashmiri people. 

In his message on the Right to Self-Determination Day, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to extending moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of IIOJK until the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination as stipulated in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. He called upon the international community, particularly the UN, to honour its long-standing commitment with the Kashmiri people and play its mandated role in ensuring a just and peaceful resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute. 

Ishaq Dar said illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India stands as a stark tragedy of our times as the people of IIOJK continue to endure systematic repression, widespread human rights violations and denial of their fundamental rights and dignity. He paid glowing tribute to unwavering resilience, courage and perseverance of the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. 

He said India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 represent a deliberate attempt to consolidate the illegal occupation through demographic engineering of IIOJK. He said these measures are designed to systematically transform the Kashmiri people into a disenfranchised community in their own homeland, in clear violation of international law and the principles of self-determination.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)