Kashmir, 5 January 2024 (TDI): Kashmir, once a paradise on earth with a history of unwavering struggle, observed Right to Self-Determination Day on Friday, January 5th.
This commemoration has been observed annually since 1949, following a United Nations Security Council resolution supporting Kashmiris’ right to determine their future through a UN-supervised plebiscite.
As reported by the Kashmiri media Service, The day will be signified by various activities including protest demonstrations, rallies, seminars, and conferences in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, and in all major capitals of the world to remind the United Nations that it must implement its relevant resolutions to settle the Kashmir dispute to save the Kashmiris from the Indian brutalities.
The call for observance of the day has been given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).
Decades of Stagnation
On this day in 1949, the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) unanimously adopted a resolution pledging the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people through a free and impartial plebiscite under the supervision of the United Nations.
The principles laid down in the communications of India and Pakistan with the UNCIP (United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan) on Kashmir dated December 23 and December 25 and adopted by the Commission are supplementary to the Commission’s Resolution of August 13, 1948.
The Resolution was unanimously adopted by the UNCIP on January 05, 1949. Earlier, a ceasefire came into effect between Pakistan and India one minute before midnight on the first of January 1949, following the agreement arrived at through the Commission’s resolution of 13th August 1948.
It has been decades, However, no concrete steps have been taken by the UN to implement the resolutions of 13th August 1948 and 5th January 1949.
The situation in occupied Kashmir has become more terrible since August 05, 2019, when the Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government revoked the special status of the territory and snatched away all the basic rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people under Article 370.
The last 76 years of India’s occupation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) are a sad story of suppression of the Kashmiri people. India has imposed a climate of terror in IIOJK and denied these oppressed people the right to exercise their inviolable rights to self-determination and the pursuit of a life with dignity.
The Modi regime is using the Indian army and detestable bureau RAW, Intelligence Bureau (IB), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Enforcement Directorate (ED), and State Investigation Agency (SIA) to suppress the people of IIOJK.
East Timor and South Sudan gained freedom through plebiscites, whereas the people of occupied Kashmir are still facing Indian state terrorism.
Also Read: Pakistan condemns Indian persecution of Kashmiris
Prime Minister Kakar’s Self-Determination Day Message
Pakistan PM Anwar ul Haq Kakar, on the 75th anniversary of the Kashmir resolution, conveyed grief that it has been seven and a half decades since the oppressed people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have not been able to exercise their fundamental rights.
He uttered, that India is engaged in a vicious exercise, aimed at altering the demographic structure and political landscape of IIOJK, to turn Kashmiris into a disempowered community in their land.
The caretaker PM of Pakistan highlighted that the recent verdict of India on the status of IIJOK is another stride toward the denial of the Kashmiri people’s inalienable rights to self-determination.
In his concluding remarks, he ensures the political, diplomatic, and moral support of Pakistan towards the Kashmiri people to assist them in securing their legitimate rights.
