Just settlement of J&K dispute essential for durable peace & stability in South Asia: Qureshi
ISLAMABAD, Feb 05 (SABAH): In the context of Kashmir Solidarity Day, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has addressed a letter to the President of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the United Nations Secretary General to apprise them of the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and the continuing threat to peace and security.
In his letter, Shah Mahmood Qureshi has underscored that all illegal and unilateral measures imposed by India in IIOJK since 5 August 2019, including attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory, constitute flagrant violations of international law including the UN Charter and the relevant Security Council resolutions as well as the 4th Geneva Convention.
The Foreign Minister has highlighted India’s gross, systematic and widespread human rights violations including the recent spate of extra-judicial killings and staged encounters in IIOJK. He has drawn particular attention to the targeting of the independent journalist community. The letter notes that India’s refusal to allow unfettered access to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for conducting an independent investigation is a typical response by repressive occupying regimes to avoid scrutiny of their excesses.
Noting the RSS-BJP leadership’s intensified belligerent rhetoric against Pakistan, including threats of military aggression, the Foreign Minister has recalled India’s track record of orchestrating “false flag” operations for rallying domestic political support. He has warned that India might again resort to such reckless behaviour for electoral gains.
The Foreign Minister’s letter has also reaffirmed that Pakistan desires peaceful relations with all its neighbours, including India. While underlining that a just settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is essential for durable peace and stability in South Asia, the Foreign Minister has stressed that the onus is on India to create a conducive environment for meaningful and result-oriented engagement.
Shah mahmood Qureshi has been regularly communicatingwith the Security Council and the UN Secretary General in order to keep the UN fully informed of the gravesituation in IIOJK, and to remind the Security Council of its responsibility to ensure the implementation of its resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Meanwhile in his message on the occasion of the Kashmir Solidarity day observed on Saturday, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that while observing this Kashmir Solidarity Day, we continue to pay homage to the supreme sacrifices of our brothers and sisters in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). “We reiterate our unflinching and complete support for their just struggle. This will continue till the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination” he said.
He said that the endless saga of Indian cruelty is indicative of a consistent pattern of state oppression and atrocities. Indian occupation forces have been brutalizing the Kashmiris with impunity for more than seven decades. History has few parallels of such massive violation of fundamental rights. He said that over 8 million Kashmiris have been turned into prisoners in their own homes, with more than 900,000 occupation troops holding them hostage. Kashmiri leaders remain incarcerated. Kashmiri youth is being particularly targeted through incarceration at undisclosed locations, indiscriminate use of pellet guns, and extra-judicial killings in staged cordon-and-search operations. Illegal demographic changes in IIOJK are further violation of international law.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Kashmiris’ Muslim majority is being turned into a minority in their own land. India’s reprehensible treatment of Kashmiri journalists and human rights defenders makes it clear that it would not hesitate to go to any extent for perpetuation of its illegal occupation and hiding its crimes. This manifestation of Indian state-terrorism against the Kashmiris is well-documented by human rights and humanitarian organizations as well as the international media. Pakistan’s recent dossier has extensively documented irrefutable evidence of India’s gross and systematic human rights violations in IIOJK.
He said that India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 were manifestly anti-peace and against international law including the UN Charter, UN Security Council Resolutions, and the 4th Geneva Convention. These measures were rejected by the Kashmiris, Pakistan and the international community.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the continued Indian oppression has only strengthened the will of the Kashmiris to stand firm in their just struggle. India must realize that oppression and systematic violation of fundamental rights cannot break the will of the Kashmiris struggling for their self-determination and freedom from Indian occupation.
He said that Pakistan remains committed to peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people. The vision of durable peace and stability in South Asia will remain unrealized without a just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. As the military siege of Kashmir has now spanned over two and a half years, the Kashmiris await attention of those who espouse the cause of human dignity to address their plight.
He said that the international community must demand an end to India’s gross and widespread human rights violations in IIOJK; reversal of its unilateral and illegal actions of 5 August 2019; repeal of draconian laws; unfettered access to UN-supervised investigations into cases of extrajudicial executions and; implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.