Message by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan on Kashmir Solidarity Day (5th February 2020)

It is imperative to understand that when India undertook its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, it not only violated the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir, international law as well as its own constitution; it in fact, also tried to extinguish the very identity of the Kashmiri people and the concept of ‘Kashmiriyat’.

India hoped that by arbitrarily tampering with the demographic integrity of Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir, it could dampen the spirit of the Kashmiri people or at the very least, make them compromise on their legitimate right to self-determination. On both counts, India has abjectly failed. The international community, the human rights organizations, international media and the civil society have all called India out on its tyranny. Protests have been held in nearly all major cities in support of the Kashmiri people.

The United Nations and major world leaders have stood by the Kashmiris in condemning Indian actions and the United Nations Security Council has discussed the issue of Jammu & Kashmir three times during the past 6 months. The international community must do more to support the people of Occupied Jammu & Kashmir in this time of trial and tribulation. Each additional second on the lockdown clock is a burden on the world’s collective conscience.

The international community must act in support of the fundamental freedoms and basic human rights of Kashmiris and urge India to allow the UN Fact-Finding Mission to IOJ&K to ascertain the reports of grave human rights violations there. India must allow United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) unhindered access to carry out its duties in IOJ&K.

If India has nothing to hide, it must allow international media and civil society to visit and report on the human rights situation in IOJ&K. In the end, let me reaffirm Pakistan’s unstinted political, diplomatic and moral support for the valiant Kashmiri people in their just struggle for human dignity and their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.