OIC rejects unilateral Indian actions to change disputed status of IIOJ&K

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan felt elevated at the concluding 47th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) and said that the inclusion of Jammu and Kashmir dispute in the Niamey Declaration – being an important part of the CFM’s outcome documents – is yet another manifestation of the OIC’s consistent support to the Kashmir cause.

The OIC also rejected the illegal and unilateral actions by India on August 05, 2019, to change the internationally recognised disputed status of the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K).

Also rejecting policies being pursued by the RSS-BJP regime, the 57 countries of the OIC asked India to refrain from taking any steps to alter the existing demographic structure of the disputed territory.

On the conclusion of session of in Niger, the meeting’s Chair issued the Niamey Declaration. The declaration explicitly reiterated “the OIC’s principled position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute for a peaceful settlement in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions”, said the Foreign Office in a statement. There was positive response from member states who agreed that Pakistan would be holding the 48th CFM Session in Islamabad in 2021, said the Foreign Office.

Meanwhile, in a resolution adopted unanimously by the 47th Session of the OIC in Niamey on Sunday, the CFM reaffirmed its strong support for the Kashmir cause.

“The OIC categorically rejected illegal and unilateral actions taken by India since August 05, 2019. The resolution demands that India “cancel issuance of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris” as well as other unilateral and illegal actions, including “Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Order 2020”, “Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules 2020”, “Jammu and Kashmir Language Bill 2020” and amendments to the landownership laws”, added the Foreign Office.

The OIC rejected the illegal and unilateral actions by India on August 5, 2019, to change the internationally recognised disputed status of IOJ&K, and demanded that India rescind its illegal steps. It demanded India to cancel the issuance of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris and revoke all unilateral and illegal actions in IOJ&K since August 05, 2019, while refraining from taking any step to alter the existing demographic structure of the disputed territory. It also condemned in the strongest possible terms human rights violations perpetrated by Indian occupation forces in IOJ&K and other such instances of Indian terrorism that have been the source of unspeakable suffering for the innocent Kashmiri people.

The resolution deplored the state-sponsored terrorism and crimes against humanity by Indian occupation forces against people of IOJ&K. It condemned extra-judicial killings during fake ‘encounters’ and ‘search-and-cordon’ operations and demolition of homes and private properties as a form of collective punishment; denounced the renewed use of pellet guns by Indian occupation forces against innocent civilians; condemned the harassment of Kashmiri women by Indian occupation forces; deplored that India has callously exploited the current COVID-19 crisis to intensify its military crackdown and further advance its unlawful occupation in IOJ&K; welcomed the visit of OIC secretary general’s special envoy for Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from 2-6 March 2020; reaffirmed the sentiments expressed in the unanimously adopted communiqués of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir in its ministerial meetings held on September 25, 2019 and June 22, 2020; urged India to adhere to its international human rights obligations and allow the OIC special representative on Jammu and Kashmir and the OIC fact-finding mission to visit IOJ&K; strongly urged India to implement recommendations of the two reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Jammu and Kashmir; urged international community to review their engagements with India, the occupying power, as it is violating and disregarding the international law, the international humanitarian law, and international resolutions; emphasised that the question of Kashmir is of utmost importance for the Muslim Ummah; recognised that Jammu and Kashmir is the core dispute between Pakistan and India, and its resolution indispensable for realisation of the dream of peace in South Asia; acknowledged that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are the principal party to the dispute, and should be included in any peace process for resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute; affirmed that any political process/elections held under foreign occupation cannot be a substitute to the exercise of the right of self-determination; underscored that Jammu and Kashmir is an unresolved question of granting the right to self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir that has been on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for over seven decades now; reaffirmed that the fundamental right enshrined in the UNSC resolutions that the final disposition of the of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people, expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations; decided to further consider the Jammu and Kashmir dispute at the 48th Session of the CFM in Islamabad.

The 57-member OIC has been a consistent and vocal supporter of the Kashmir cause, and adoption of this resolution was a reaffirmation of the principled stance always taken by the OIC on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.