Resolution of Kashmir dispute only way to ensure durable peace: President

Resolution of Kashmir dispute only way to ensure durable peace, says President

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – President Dr Arif Alvi said the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people was the only way to ensure durable peace and stability in the region.

In a message on the occasion of Youm-e-Istehsal on 5 August 2022, he said while marking three years of India’s illegal and unilateral actions on 5 August 2019. “We honour the sacrifices of the Kashmiris in their just struggle for their right to self-determination”.

Three successive generations of Kashmiris had rendered innumerable sacrifices in the face of India’s relentless campaign of brutalization using every inhuman tactic to perpetuate illegal Indian occupation, he added.

The President said India’s actions of 5 August 2019 contravene several United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions which stipulated that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people through a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.

India was implementing a brutal campaign of military occupation, land confiscation, and the influx of non-Kashmiris in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in violation of the UNSC resolutions and international law, including the 4th Geneva convention, he added.

The president said the unabated Indian state-terrorism includes the extra-judicial killing of more than 650 innocent Kashmiris since 5 August 2019, unprecedented restrictions on freedom of speech, fake encounters, ‘cordon-and-search’ operations, custodial torture and deaths, enforced disappearances, incarceration of senior Kashmiri leadership and young boys, use of pellet guns especially targeting the Kashmiri youth, destruction and burning of houses to inflict ‘collective punishment’ on the Kashmiris, and other methods of subjugation.

“But the occupation forces’ ruthlessness has not been able to break the will of the Kashmiri people. Indian actions have been rejected by the Kashmiris, Pakistan, and the international community.”

He said the dire situation in IIOJK had been taken up by the UNSC three times since 5 August 2019, reaffirming that this was an internationally recognized dispute and its solution was firmly anchored in the implementation of the relevant UNSC resolutions.

India’s refusal to grant the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination had serious implications for South Asia and beyond, he added. He said more than 1.5 billion people of the region deserved to see the dawn of peace and prosperity, which had been held hostage by India in IIOJK.

Like always, Pakistan will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their just struggle, he added. “We call upon the international community to take practical steps to hold India accountable for its gross and widespread human rights violations in IIOJK and to facilitate a peaceful resolution of this long-standing dispute.”