Pakistan reiterates Kashmir's right to plebiscite

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Rallies and seminars were held across Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to mark the annual Right to Self-determination of Kashmiris Day on Tuesday.

On this day in 1949, the UN committed that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute would be decided through a free and fair plebiscite.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a series of tweets, said the day is a reminder to the UN and its member states of their “unfulfilled commitment” to the Kashmiri people.

“Despite suffering 73 years of brutal Indian occupation, generation after generation of the Kashmiri people remain steadfast in the demand for their inalienable right to self-determination as guaranteed to them under the UN Charter and by the UNSC,” he said.

Pakistan, he said, stands “unequivocally” with the Kashmiri people in their struggle for freedom from the “tyranny of one of the most ruthless, inhumane & illegal occupations in modern history.”

Reaffirming Islamabad’s support to the pro-freedom struggle in Indian-administered Kashmir, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan is part of the Kashmiris’ “movement for self-determination."

Addressing the upper house of parliament, Qureshi said Pakistan expects an active US role vis-à-vis the resolution of the long-standing dispute.

"It is good news that Joe Biden has raised his voice about the way human rights are trampled in [occupied] Kashmir, and we expect he will continue to do the same in the future," he said.

He added that there is hope if the US and EU raise effective voices for human rights in Kashmir. “The international community must continue its support for the fundamental freedoms and basic human rights of Kashmiris and urge India to allow the UN to investigate the grave human rights violations in occupied Kashmir."

Both Pakistan and India control the Muslim-majority region in parts but claim in full. They have fought two full-scale wars over the territory.

On Aug. 5, 2019, New Delhi scrapped the region's autonomy and divided it into two federal territories.