ISLAMABAD:The member states of OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir have reaffirmed their support for the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for realization of their inalienable Right to Self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council’s resolutions.
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and senior officials of the member states of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir met on the sidelines of 78th session of UNGA in New York with Secretary General of the OIC in the chair, according to a Radio Pakistan’s report.
In a joint communiqué, it was declared that the final settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions is indispensable for durable peace and stability in South Asia.
The forum expressed serious concern over the statements by the Indian political leaders as well as senior military officers about their readiness to attack Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, calling such statements a serious threat to regional peace and stability.
It demanded from India to reverse all illegal and unilateral measures taken on or after 5 August 2019, stop the gross, systematic and widespread human rights abuses in the IIOJK, halt and reverses the illegal demographic changes in the occupied territory, release all Kashmiri political prisoners and rescind the trumped-up and fallacious charges against the Kashmiri leadership.
It also demanded that India should repeal all restrictive and draconian laws, allow unrestricted access to UN Special Procedures, OIC and IPHRC fact-finding missions, international media and independent observers to visit IIOJK.
The member states expressed concern over the seizure of the office of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Srinagar and condemned the ongoing campaign to confiscate the properties of Kashmiri activists.
The forum denounced the Indian authorities' fresh plea seeking death penalty for one of the renowned Kashmiri leaders Yaseen Malik, who is incarcerated and has already been awarded life imprisonment.
It requested the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue monitoring the situation in IIOJK and issue a third report, in addition to its reports of 2018 and 2019, on the ongoing human rights violations there.
It also requested the Special Envoy of the Secretary General on Jammu and Kashmir to present a report on the ground situation in IIOJK to the upcoming Islamic Summit.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Jilani participated in the meeting and called on OIC to urge India to rescind its unilateral and illegal actions of 5 August 2019 and the subsequent step.
He briefed the Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir on continuing Indian atrocities in IIOJK, and underscored that oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir look towards the OIC and Muslim Ummah with great hope for realization of their fundamental rights.