Continued Indian oppression has only strengthened the will of Kashmiris to stand firm in their just struggle: Qureshi  

ISLAMABAD, Feb 11 (SABAH): To honor the valiant struggle of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination and to highlight the widespread human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), an art exhibition was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the Kashmir Solidarity Day activities.

Young artists from the National College of Arts Rawalpindi, COMSATS University Islamabad and Rawalpindi Women University participated in the exhibition.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi graced the event as chief guest. Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ms. Andaleeb Abbas, Chairman Kashmir Committee of the Parliament, Shehryar Khan Afridi were guest speakers. Members of the diplomatic corps, Kashmiris, former Ambassadors, civil society, academia and artists from various academic institutions also attended the event among others.

Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir in their remarks underscored the important role of arts in highlighting the plight of Kashmiris in IIOJK and called on the international community to deliver on its promise to the Kashmiris for the attainment of their inalienable right to self-determination as was pledged by numerous UN Security Council resolutions.

The Foreign Minister in his keynote address emphasized the importance of harnessing the potential of arts to provide insights into Kashmiris’ peaceful resistance movement. He said that despite the sealing of borders, denial of access to neutral observers, and propagating disinformation, Kashmiris could not be silenced or subdued by Indian occupation forces. The pattern of ongoing atrocities in IIOJK reflected the anti-peace and anti-Muslim ‘Hindutva’ agenda of extremist RSS-BJP dispensation. The continued Indian oppression has only strengthened the will of the Kashmiris to stand firm in their just struggle. He highlighted that when people started disseminating reality through arts and music, it made a huge difference and the process had already begun in IIOJK. He called upon the international community to peacefully resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with international legitimacy.

The Foreign Secretary presented Kashmir Solidarity Day mementos to guest speakers. A song ‘Meray Kashmir’ was presented by Kashmiri singer Zohaib Zaman to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day.