ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture Attaullah Tarar on Monday reiterated the country’s unwavering support for the Kashmiri people’s just struggle for self-determination and freedom from illegal Indian occupation.
Tarar was addressing a press conference along with the Federal Minister of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam in Islamabad.
Minister Tarar said that the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan under Amir Muqam had launched a historic campaign on the occasion of Youm-e-Istehsal to highlight Indian atrocities in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Tarar said on Aug 5, 2019, the special status of Kashmir was ended by India’s Modi regime through unilateral and illegal actions. He said India had unleashed a reign of terror in the occupied Kashmir by usurping all fundamental rights of hapless Kashmiri people.
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The minister said India has illegally and unlawfully occupied the state as it was a disputed territory and Kashmiris were promised by the United Nations to grant them the right to self-determination. He said that India was not only continuously violating human rights in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir but it was violating UN Security Council’s resolutions as well.
Minister Tarar emphasized Pakistan’s commitment to backing the Kashmiris’ fight against “illegal Indian occupation.” He denounced the Indian government’s actions, including alleged atrocities, illegal detentions, and enforced disappearances in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Tarar reiterated that Pakistan will continue providing moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people until they are granted the right to self-determination.
“Pakistan has consistently supported the innocent Kashmiris in their struggle and will continue to do so until they are afforded their birthright to decide their own fate,” Tarar stated. He also highlighted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent address to the United Nations General Assembly, where the Prime Minister called for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
The minister said that the government of Pakistan has always condemned Indian atrocities in IIOJK and raised its voice at all relevant forums.
Under the illegal, immoral and unjustified actions of 2019, the special status of Occupied Kashmir was abolished by the Modi regime and since then, the worst violations of human rights were being committed by India in the valley, he maintained. He said that the right to self-determination was the fundamental right of the Kashmiri masses and Pakistan would continue to support their birth right of freedom.
The minister said New Delhi should immediately withdraw the illegal and unlawful actions of August 5, 2019, restore the special status of Kashmir and take steps for holding a free and impartial plebiscite in Kashmir under the aegis of the United Nations.
Minister Amir Muqam, who also spoke at the press conference, praised the resilience and sacrifices of the Kashmiri people in their resistance against Indian oppression. He noted that despite the ongoing struggle, the people of Kashmir have not accepted the occupation by New Delhi.
To commemorate the ongoing struggle and oppression faced by Kashmiris, Muqam said that, under the directive of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, special ceremonies were organized in Islamabad as well as across Pakistan’s four provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. These events, held on Youm-e-Istehsal, were aimed at drawing attention to the severe conditions faced by Kashmiris under Indian occupation forces.
Minister Muqam thanked the whole nation for supporting Kashmiris and highlighting the case of innocent Kashmiris at the global level for the attention of the international community towards human rights violations over the last five years.
He also hailed the efforts of all provincial governments, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir governments for holding protest rallies, seminars, walks and other programmes for showing solidarity with Kashmiri brothers and sisters.
The minister said that the so-called world’s largest democratic state India has been violating human rights continuously since 1947 and intensified it since August 5, 2019. He urged the international community to put pressure on India to stop state terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and end the military siege since 2019.
At the end of the press conference, a documentary on Unheard-The Invisible Trauma of Kashmiris was shown which highlighted the atrocities committed by Indian occupation forces since partition of the subcontinent. Kashmiris from IIOJK were interviewed in the documentary who renewed the pledge that the freedom struggle would continue till its logical conclusion.
