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Message of the President on Right to Self-determination Day for people of Jammu and Kashmir

Islamabad, January 05, 2020 (PPI-OT): 5 January is commemorated as the Right to Self-Determination Day for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. On 5 January 1949, the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan (UNCIP) adopted the resolution that guarantees a free and fair plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir to enable the Kashmiri people realize their right to self-determination. Today’s commemoration is aimed at reminding the global community that they cannot shy away from their responsibility towards the Kashmiri people. The United Nations must honour its commitments that were made 71 years ago.

Since August 05, 2019, through continuous illegal and unilateral steps, the Indian government has created an environment of fear and chaos in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ and K). More than 150 days of lockdown and absence of fundamental freedoms have challenged the conscience of international community and India’s credentials of being a respectable member of the comity of nations. Indian actions have been widely rejected by the international community, the United Nations, and international human rights organizations.

The current situation in IOJ and K is the worst in recent history where people have been deprived of their fundamental rights, including rights to life, food, health, freedom of expression and assembly, as well as self-determination. The people of IOJ and K are being subjected to collective punishment by Indian occupation forces who have converted the territory into the largest militarized zone in the world.

Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to the just cause of the people of Jammu and Kashmir till the realization of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.

For more information, contact:
Spokesman
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Government of Pakistan
Tell: +92-51-9205494
Fax: +92-51-9204202
Cell: +92-336-5644459
Website: www.mofa.gov.pk