PM Imran reaffirms Pakistan’s unwavering support to Kashmiri people

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday reiterated that Pakistan will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Kashmiri people and extend all possible support to them until they realize their legitimate right to self-determination, ARY News reported.

In his message on the “Kashmir Black Day”, PM Imran said, “We are observing this day to condemn Indian illegal occupation and to reiterate our unwavering support to the Kashmiri people.”

He maintained that the black day represents a dark chapter in the human history when, 73 years ago, Indian forces landed in Srinagar to forcibly occupy the territory and subjugate the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir by India represents an international dispute, the solution of which is firmly anchored in the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions in accordance with the UN charter, the prime minister added.

PM Imran said that despite unabated Indian atrocities for more than seven decades posing an existential threat, India was unable to break the will of the Kashmiri people.

“International community bears witness that Indian state-terrorism, extra-judicial killing of innocent Kashmiris, restrictions in freedom of speech, fake encounters, cordon-and-search operations, custodial torture and deaths, enforced disappearances, incarceration of Kashmiri leadership and youth, use of pellet guns, destruction and burning of houses to inflict ‘collective punishment’ on the Kashmiris communities and other methods of subjugation have failed to shake the resolve of the Kashmiris people in their just struggle for the inalienable right to self-determination.”

He said that India’s unilateral actions, military siege and communication blockade accompanied by illegal measures to bring about demographic change in occupied Kashmir since 5th August 2019, expose yet another dimension of RSS-inspired ‘Hindutva’ ideology.

The dangerous mix of extremist ideology (Hindutva) and hegemonic designs (Akhand Bharat) is imperiling regional peace and stability, he added.

The international legitimacy of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is enshrined in the UNSC resolutions, which are binding, he said and added that It was a collective responsibility of all member states to ensure compliance by India of its international obligations.

The prime minister urged the international community to take practical steps to stop India from using state-terrorism as a tool to destabilize the region and to work for peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people. This was the only way durable peace and stability can be ensured in South Asia, he concluded.

Pakistanis and Kashmiris living on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and rest of the world, are observing black day today to condemn Indian illegal occupation on Jammu and Kashmir.