PM urges UNSC to honour pledge on IIOJK plebiscite

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong and steadfast support for the people of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) till the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.

“Being a direct party to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, Pakistan will continue to underscore the imperative of holding a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the prime minister said in a message on the occasion of Kashmiris’ Right to Self-determination Day being observed on January 5.

Referring to the 72nd anniversary of the United Nations’ commitment to upholding the fundamental human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he said, on this day in 1949, the United Nations Commission for India & Pakistan (UNCIP) had pledged the realization of the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations.

The importance of the inalienable right to self-determination, the prime minister said, had been acknowledged in various human rights covenants and decisions of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.

“Owing to Indian intransigence, the Security Council has failed to fulfill its pledge to the Kashmiri people,” he added.

Imran Khan said for over seven decades, the life of Kashmiris in the IIOJK had been a chronicle of state-sponsored cruelty and terrorism. Around 900,000 occupation forces had converted the region into the largest militarized zone in the world.

“Post-5th August 2019, India has unleashed a new reign of terror in the IIOJK, maintaining an inhuman military siege, perpetrating egregious violations of human rights of the innocent people especially women, children and the elderly with unprecedented impunity, and seeking to illegally change the demographic structure of the occupied territory,” he added.

The prime minister said, “The world must ensure that human rights abuses do not go unpunished and that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity are held accountable.”

For more than 500 days now, the prime minister said, Indian occupation forces had been further brutalizing the besieged innocent Kashmiris, brazenly denying their basic rights of communication, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and above all, freedom to determine their own future.

“Kashmiris have been deprived of their fundamental rights to life, food and health despite the rampant Covid-19 pandemic.

The recent spate of unprecedented Indian state-sponsored terrorism in the IIOJK and discriminatory steps against minorities, especially Muslims, are a clear manifestation of the ‘Hindutva’ ideology espoused by the RSS-inspired BJP regime,” he added.