(Asghar Ali Mubarak)
Kashmir (TNS) The government of Pakistan is highlighting the Kashmir cause at relevant forums. The resolution of January 5, 1949 reads: “The question of accession of the State of Jammu & Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite”. The resolution of January 5, 1949 reads: “The question of accession of the State of Jammu & Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite”.
The right to self-determination is a vital component of human dignity. Negation of this right is the negation of human freedom, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Human Rights Covenants. In the post-colonial era, the realization of this inalienable right paved the way for successful culmination of freedom struggles in different parts of the world, including in South Asia.
The 5th of January is commemorated every year 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 honor its commitments which were made 77 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 & Kashmir (IOJ&K).
Indian actions have been widely rejected by the international community, the United Nations, and international human rights organizations.
The current situation in IOJ&K is the worst in recent history where people have been deprived of their fundamental rights, including rights to life, food, and health, freedom of expression and assembly, as well as self-determination.
The people of IOJ&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.
On Right to Self-Determination Day, the Pakistani leadership paid tribute to Kashmiri martyrs. It may be recalled that the Kashmiri people living all over the world, including Azad Kashmir and occupied Kashmir, celebrated Right to Self-Determination Day on January 5, 2025 with a renewed pledge that the freedom struggle will continue until the logical conclusion of the freedom movement to get rid of Indian rule. The United Nations Security Council had passed a resolution on January 5, 1949, in which the Kashmiris were given the right to decide their future through a referendum, but India, demonstrating its stubbornness, did not implement this Security Council resolution. The Kashmiri people have never accepted this Indian oppression and domination and have continued their struggle for freedom from the illegal Indian military occupation of Kashmir on October 27, 1947 to this day. In this struggle, the Kashmiri people are creating a new history of human and financial sacrifices. Let alone implementing dozens of resolutions of the United Nations and the Security Council, India completely occupied the occupied valley by deleting Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution on August 5, 2019. Search and siege operations are still ongoing in most areas of the occupied valley, in which Kashmiri youth are being arrested or martyred and chaste women are also being violated. In return for raising their voice for the right of Kashmiris to self-determination, India is also looking for Pakistan’s security. It does not let any opportunity to weaken Pakistan’s security go to waste. The oppressed and oppressed Kashmiri people have been continuing their freedom struggle for the past 77 years and are shaking the consciences of international organizations by raising their voice against Indian occupation at every forum in the world and by holding meetings, processions and rallies on important days like January 5. Now it is the responsibility of the representative international organizations to force the stubborn India to implement the UN resolutions. President Asif Ali Zardari said in his message that Kashmiris are celebrating the 76th anniversary of the UN resolution, which reaffirms the inalienable right of Kashmiris to self-determination. India has deprived the Kashmiri people of their right for 7 decades. Despite Indian atrocities, the spirit of Kashmiris is unwavering. Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif has said that India is crushing the freedom struggle of Kashmiris and is involved in human rights violations in the occupied valley. Today, the United Nations guaranteed a free and fair plebiscite in Kashmir. Today is the time for the international community, including the United Nations, to fulfill its promises. The Prime Minister of Pakistan said that after August 5, 2019, India is changing the nature of the population and political structure of Kashmir. Pakistan will continue to provide moral, political and diplomatic support to the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also paid tribute to the Kashmiri martyrs on the Day of Right to Self-Determination. She made it clear that Pakistan will continue to fully support Kashmir’s right to self-determination. It may be recalled that the illegally detained Chairman of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, Masrat Alam Butt, in a message from the infamous Tihar Jail in New Delhi, appealed to Kashmiris living around the world to celebrate the Day of Right to Self-Determination in a grand manner and make it clear to India as well as the international community that Kashmiris will never compromise on their right to self-determination. Masrat Alam Butt said that the failure to implement the resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council on January 5, 1949, is a big question mark on the existence of the international organization. Posters have been pasted in various districts of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including Srinagar, urging the United Nations to take notice of the Kashmiris being deprived of their right to self-determination. The posters said that the Indian government is trying to mislead the international community about the real situation in the region. It should be noted that Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik’s wife Mashal Malik has said in her video message that the United Nations should tell what happened to the promises made regarding the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris. Since 1947, the United Nations has more than a dozen resolutions on the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris. I want to ask the United Nations what happened to these promises and resolutions, has the law of the world become blind, deaf and dumb. She said that were Kashmiris born only so that we could keep burying our martyrs, should we keep lying in jails? Should we live under black laws? He said that has the United Nations bowed its knees to India’s stubbornness, history will never forgive the United Nations and human rights organizations because the Kashmiris continued to be oppressed and you are silent. Mashal Malik said that history and the world will bear witness that the Kashmiris continued their jihad until the last drop of blood, Insha Allah victory is our destiny, unfortunately the world kept watching and remained silent and the Kashmiris kept sacrificing. It should be noted that on January 5, 1949, the United Nations Commission on Pakistan and India passed a resolution on the right of self-determination, i.e. referendum, for the Kashmiris, but India has deprived them of their basic rights by shortening their life spans. Kashmiris celebrate January 5 every year as a renewal of their commitment. The purpose of celebrating this day every year is to remind the international community that they cannot ignore their responsibility towards Kashmir. The ongoing Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir pose a threat to the peace of the entire world. United Nations resolutions give the Kashmiri people the right to decide for themselves, but India is constantly violating these resolutions. On the occasion of the right to self-determination, protests were held against India across Azad Jammu and Kashmir. A memorandum was also presented at the United Nations Military Observer Mission office in Muzaffarabad and a demand was made that it fulfill its promises made to the Kashmiris.
