Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday reaffirmed the country’s resolve to continue extending its full moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir for the realization of their right to self-determination.
In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the prime minister reported that January 5 has been celebrated annually as the Right to Self-Determination Day since the United Nations (UN) in 1949 “adopted the historic resolution that guarantees a free life and fair plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, to enable the people of Kashmir to realize their inalienable right to self-determination.”
On January 5, 1949, the UN pledged to realize the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the UN. Every year, Pakistanis and Kashmiris across the world celebrate January 5 as Kashmiri Right to Self-Determination Day.
In the statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz emphasized that the right to self-determination was a fundamental principle in the United Nations Charter, and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution to uphold the legal right to self-determination every anus.
“Unfortunately, the people of Kashmir have not been able to exercise this inalienable right for over seven decades,” the statement said.
“It is time for the international community, including the United Nations, to fulfill its promises and take meaningful steps, enabling the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination,” he said.
The Prime Minister also highlighted a collective call from the global community for “immediate cessation of human rights violations, release of political prisoners and restoration of fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Kashmir.”
Furthermore, the statement underlined India’s violations of the internationally disputed territory, highlighting that the country “continues to take multiple measures to consolidate its occupation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).”
On August 5, 2019, the Indian government led by Narendra Modi stripped the Muslim-majority territory of its special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution, dividing the former state into two territories governed directly by New Delhi.
The move allowed people from the rest of India to acquire property in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) and settle there permanently. Kashmiris, as well as critics of the Hindu nationalist-led Indian government, saw the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.
“Through a series of illegal and unilateral actions taken since August 5, 2019, India is trying to alter the demographic and political structure of the disputed territory, with the aim of transforming the majority of the people of Kashmir into a community. minority without power, in their own homeland,” he stated. he said, adding that he was also “subjecting the people of Kashmir to serious and systematic wide-ranging human rights violations.”
“Pakistan reaffirms its firm determination to continue providing all its moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir, in their just struggle for the realization of their right to self-determination, enshrined in the Charter and relevant resolutions of the United Nations, as well as as in international law,” the statement adds.
