President urges world to help Kashmiris get right to self-determination

ISLAMABAD: Indicating towards the nefarious means being used by India to malign the indigenous freedom movement of the people of Indian Held Kashmir (IHK), President Mamnoon Hussain on Monday urged the world nations to use their influence for the right to self-determination of Kashmiris’ to ensure sustainable and lasting peace in the region.

“According to latest reports, notorious militant organisations operating in different parts of the world were being mobilized in IHK by India to sabotage the indigenous movement of Kashmir. This is a very treacherous scheme which will have devastating repercussions. This Indian effort will also go in vain like those of the past Insha Allah”, the President said while addressing a seminar organised in connection with the Kashmir Solidarity Day at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. “We believe that the situation in IHK has already endangered the peace of South-Asia,” he added.

He said that freedom struggle of the brave and a valiant person of Kashmir was a unique movement in the world. “They had been facing persecution for the last 70 years. Despite this severe repression, they had been heroically facing the subjugation”, he maintained. He said it was the only freedom movement of the world against which all forms of oppression were used. “Even, Pellets guns were deliberately fired into the eyes of youth which destroyed their lives by damaging their eyesight. We pay tribute to the young children who lost their eyesight, our sisters who sacrificed their husband, parent who sacrificed their beloved children for the sake of freedom,” he asserted.

The President reiterated that people and the government of Pakistan would continue to provide political, moral and diplomatic support to the people of IHK until the achievement of their objective. He recalled that during the independence movement of Subcontinent, the people of Kashmir associated their future with the Muslims of the region in their struggle for Pakistan and they also participated in the struggle for Pakistan with full enthusiasm.

“Despite this reality, at the time of the partition of India, a malicious conspiracy was hatched to deprive the people of IHK of their birth right to freedom. The people of IHK are protesting against this till today and striving for the completion of the unfinished agenda of the partition. I think that global conscience should support the people of IHK by keeping aside all other considerations,” he added. “This is the era of the freedom of humanity which also ensures its protection. Established international norms and the United Nations Charter also endorse it,” the president opined.

“By following the same principles and value, the people of IHK started a movement for the realisation of their inalienable birth right, but they had to face gross persecution and massacres”, he added. He further said attempts were being made to deprive them of their motherland by changing its demography. “This dire situation awakened the international conscience and the international community openly supported the struggle of Kashmiris,” the president added.

Resultantly, he mentioned, the Indian leadership was forced to pledge to the international community that it would not deprive the Kashmiris’ of their right to self-determination and this dispute would be resolved permanently through a free and fair plebiscite. “Later, the Indian leadership reneged on their promises”, he added.

Mamnoon said in this age of communication, the world was fully cognizant of the situation in IHK. “Pakistan and other responsible states were drawing the attention of the international community towards this tyranny but the world had failed to end those Indian brutalities. We believe that turning a blind eye towards the atrocities being committed in IHK will complement the obnoxious practice of the oppression of weak and impoverished nations which will be devastating for the international peace,” he added.

He said despite the massacres, mass graves and atrocities committed by the Indian occupation forces and Hindu extremists the freedom movement of Kashmir continues with full vigor. “Being aware of immense courage and passion for freedom of Kashmiris’ I believe that this unprecedented movement of human history will achieve the desired objective,” he added.

He said all enlightened circles of the world were with the people of IHK for the restoration of their fundamental right to freedom. “On the other hand, the powers which were turning a blind eye towards the brutalities being unleashed in IHK for the sake of their petty interests would not be forgiven in the history of mankind”, he added.

“Therefore, I invite all the independent and prudent nations to support the legitimate struggle of the people of IHK to save the world from a grave human tragedy,” he added. He demanded that all political prisoners in IHK should be released, right to freedom of expression should be restored and use of fire-arms against innocent civilians and their persecution should be stopped.

“India should withdraw its draconian laws, leadership of IHK should be permitted to travel abroad, international human rights observers should be allowed to work in IHK”, he added. “We also call upon the United Nations to fulfill its promises to the people of IHK because the solution of this longstanding issue is only possible through a free and fair plebiscite in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations.

“February 5 in our national history is a day on which people from Azad Kashmir, IHK and Pakistan unanimously reaffirm that Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris and its future is to be decided by the people of Kashmir,” he added.

“The people of IHK did not accept and recognise the Indian occupation and they would not do so in the future also”, he added. “On this day, I along with the whole nation reiterate that we are for Kashmiris’ and Kashmiris’ are for us. There is no difference between us, we were one, are one and will always remain one. Insha Allah,” he added and also prayed to Allah Almighty to end the darkness of tyranny and oppression in IHK. “May the sacrifices of Kashmiris be rewarded and may there be an early dawn of their independence.”

Minister for Defence Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Muhammad Masood Khan, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Maulana Fazlur Rehman, MNA Shafqat Mehmood, Senator Rehman Malik, Convener of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Chairperson of APHC Peace and Culture Committee Mishal Malik and Chairperson / President of South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) Dr. Maria Sultan also addressed the seminar.

In his keynote address on the occasion, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Muhammad Masood Khan said that Pakistan's successful diplomacy has kept the issue of Kashmir alive despite India's propaganda.

He said Indian has been waging a continuous war, a misconception about Kashmir by posing the freedom struggle as terrorism. He stressed for utilising new means of communication to impart truth about Kashmir and muster support for the just cause of Kashmiris.

Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir while addressing the ceremony said any aggression by India will be met with a befitting response. “Our commitment to abide by the ceasefire agreement is not a response limitation.

They may have the right to start a misadventure but the right to response, at what level and with what magnitude will be reserved by us”, he said.

“It makes it incumbent on me to demand that there must be an international enquiry to determine the exact specter of the crimes being committed by the Indian forces in Kashmir”, reiterated the defence minister.

Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Maulana Fazlur Rehman said freedom movement in Kashmir will be successful and Kashmir will become the part of Pakistan. He said the United States after 9/11 has declared the freedom movements as terrorism.

He stressed on the international community and United Nations to resolve the Kashmir dispute. “The uprising rests in the very soul of the Kashmir young men and women, with a single drive for freedom. Let me make it clear, we are fighting for a legitimate right that was promised to us by the United Nations. The UN Security Council Resolution No 47 advocates the right of self-determination and free and fair plebiscite”, he said.

Senator A. Rehman Malik of the PPP asked the government of Pakistan to depute the Attorney General to move against PM Narendra Modi in International Criminal Court against Indian Human Rights violation and crimes against humanity carried out by Indian Forces under his command.

PTI leader Shafqat Mehmood said the whole nation is united on the issue of Kashmir while keeping the political differences aside.

Chairperson/President of the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) Dr Maria Sultan presented the welcome address and said freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. “Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights and to keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. In the pursuit of this highest of ideals, there can be no outcome save victory”, the DG SASSI remarked.

Addressing the ceremony, Ghulam Mohammad Safi Convener All Parties Hurriyat Conference said the business, property and lives of the political leaders and their followers are targeted, through a sustained policy of killing, torture and assault.

However, he said there is no force in the world that can stop the Kashmiri uprising and our freedom struggle. “We will fight till Kashmir is free”, he remarked.

Hurriyat Leader Mishal Malik requested the international community and Pakistan to help curtail India’s aggressive designs as the region will witness more chaos and violence, if it is not stopped. Kashmir dispute is not only a question of territorial jurisdiction between Pakistan and India but it also concerns the future of millions of people and their right to self-determination.

During the seminar video messages of Mir Waiz Umer Farooq and Asiya Andrabi were also shown in which they have told the brutalities of the Indian forces on the people of Kashmir.