72nd anniversary of UN resolution on plebiscite in Kashmir marked

ISLAMABAD: The rare and historic pictures on international diplomacy in world body’s early years depicting memorable phase of the struggle obtained from the United Nations (UN) New York-based library through special arrangements were put on display Tuesday in the federal capital’s mega shopping mall to mark 72nd anniversary of the UN resolution on Kashmir plebiscite.

One of the rare pictures in the exhibition shows a Kashmiri official presenting the then UN secretary general a flag of the free parts of Kashmir - Azad Jammu & Kashmir, with signatures from Kashmiris requesting international help in liberating territories under Indian military occupation. The exhibition of rare pictures was organised by an INGO International Kashmir Lobby Group (YFK), working with the international community on conflict resolution and human rights. The UN Commission for Pakistan and India passed a resolution stipulating a UN supervised referendum/plebiscite way back on January 5, 1949. According to the resolution, it will help citizens of the State of Jammu & Kashmir to decide about their joining either with Pakistan or India. This requirement is pending mainly because of India’s invasion and annexation of Kashmir. Ahmed Quraishi, executive director of YFK, said the Kashmiris and the world are coming closer to resolving the Kashmir conflict. “The year 2020 was a milestone in the Kashmir freedom movement,” Quraishi said, adding, “India’s losses in Held Kashmir are increasing, not decreasing. The UN is further demanding an international investigation mainly in Kashmiri territories under Indian control besides plebiscite. The world media is covering the occupation today more than at any other time in seven decades. Kashmir will be free.” Member Kashmir Committee Ms Naureen Farouq Ibrahim, who is also an MNA reiterated on the occasion the need to remember the UN resolution and emphasised national unity in standing with the cause. “Every word, every step and initiative we take, no matter how big or small in individual capacity can earn a positive impact on Kashmir’s stand,” she said. “Kashmiris are our brothers and sisters. We acknowledge the sacrifice given by them to attain freedom and stand united with them, in every democratic struggle.” The YFK demanded that India’s military occupation of occupied Kashmir should end immediately. India should meet international standards of justice and fair play by withdrawing the occupation army from Srinagar and all other Kashmiri cities and allow Kashmiris to take charge of their government as a first step towards resolving the international dispute in accordance with UNSC resolutions.

It appealed to the European Parliament, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, OSCE, ASEAN, Saarc, the Arab League, and the OIC to recognise the right of Kashmiri people to self-determination, and view it as the unfinished agenda of the freedom movement that led to the independence of both Pakistan and Indian in 1947 through a democratic and legal struggle where people voted to join either Pakistan or India after the departure of British forces from the region. India sought UN help in 1948, culminating in the UNCIP resolution of January 5, 1949. The YFK reminded the world of the democratic nature of this resolution. The first clause reads: “The question of the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite”. It urged the UNSC to seize itself of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Kashmir, where India’s military occupation authorities have been found involved in arbitrary and extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, denial of basic civil liberties, and the use of rape as a weapon of war. “We urge the world body to play its key role in resolving the Kashmir dispute for perpetual peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia,” it added.