Kashmir solution was key to South Asia peace: President Alvi

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has said that the resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the wishes of Kashmiri people was key to durable peace in South Asia.

The president, in his message to the nation on Kashmir Solidarity Day annually observed on February 5, said on the Day, the people of Pakistan paid rich tribute to the Kashmiris on their resilience in their just struggle for the right to self-determination.

He said more than a year-and-a-half had passed since August 5, 2019 when India took unilateral and illegal actions aimed at altering the internationally recognized disputed status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and changing the demographic structure of the occupied territory.

Calling self-determination one of the fundamental rights codified in all major human rights instruments as well as the United Nations Charter, the president said the denial of that right and subjugation of Kashmiris in the occupied valley was the very negation of human dignity.

He said the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was one of the oldest items on the agenda of the UN Security Council. The dispute remained unresolved due to India’s obstinate refusal to honour its commitments and its disrespect for the fundamental human rights and international law.

“Indian occupation forces continue oppression and brutalization of innocent Kashmiris through and inhuman military siege, communications blockade, cordon-and-search-operations, fake ‘encounters’, extra-judicial killings of Kashmiri youth, use of pellet guns, and collective punishment of entire communities and neighbourhoods,” he added.

President Alvi said the draconian laws in place in the IIOJK provided complete impunity to the occupation forces as they committed egregious violations of human rights.

He said the demographic apartheid in the IIOJK by Indian occupation forces was further violation of international law wherein the Kashmiris’ majority was being turned into a minority in its own land.

“These measures are a constant reminder to the world community of India’s state-terrorism – being perpetrated day in and day out against innocent Kashmiri men, women and children,” the president remarked.

He said on the Day, Pakistan called upon the international community to hold India accountable for all its misdeeds and crimes against humanity.

He asked India to rescind its unilateral and illegal actions, and stop implementing the RSS-inspired ‘Hindutva’ agenda in the IIOK that was detrimental to peace and security in the region.

The president reiterated its full support and solidarity with its Kashmiri brothers and sisters, resolving to continue to extend all-out support to the Kashmiris till the realization of their unalienable rights to self-determination.