Kathmandu, 7 January: Pakistan Embassy organized a Round Table Discussion on “Kashmiris’ Right to Self Determination”, today. The event was attended by journalists, writers, and analysts as well as human rights activists.
Messages of the President, Prime Minister, and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan on Kashmiris’ Right to Self Determination were readout. In his message, President Arif Alvi said that the current situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) is the worst in recent history where people have been deprived of their basic rights, including rights to freedom of expression and assembly as well as self-determination.
In his message, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that for more than 500 days now, Indian occupation forces have been further brutalizing the besieged innocent Kashmiris, brazenly denying their basic rights of communication, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and above all, freedom to determine their own future. Kashmiris have been deprived of their fundamental rights to life, food, and health despite the rampant Covid-19 pandemic. Pakistan’s strong and steadfast support for the Kashmiri people will continue till the realization of their inalienable right of self-determination.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, India has deprived Kashmiris of their basic rights to life, health, and food. Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong and steadfast support to the valiant Kashmiri people in their just struggle for human dignity and their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Charge d`Affaires Adnan Javed Khan traced the genesis of the long-standing dispute and the adoption of UNSC resolutions promising the people of Jammu and Kashmir their right to self-determination. He said that the non-implementation of these resolutions had subjected several generations of the people of IIOJK to grave sufferings and jeopardized the peace and stability of the region.
Participants at the event expressed serious concern over the worsening human rights situation in Kashmir resulting from more than 500 days clamp down on millions of people in the occupied territory.
The event concluded with a Q&A session in which several journalists and analysts asked questions about the history, human rights dimensions, and the future of the disputed territory.
