Joint sitting of parliament unanimously passes Kashmir resolution

ISLAMABAD (92 News) - Joint sitting of parliament unanimously passes resolution against atrocities on Kashmiri people, rejecting emphatically India’s illegal and unilateral actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir since August 5, 2019. The resolution moved by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the illegal actions are aimed at perpetuating India’s inhuman occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. The resolution said that Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute and longest outstanding item on the agenda of UN Security Council, categorically stating that illegal steps cannot alter the disputed status of the territory. Reiterating Pakistan's full support to the Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for right to self-determination, the Parliament demanded the Indian government to immediately lift military siege in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and rescind the illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019. The resolution demanded India to stop its illegal measures to change demographic structure of the occupied territory. It also called upon India to withdraw nine hundred thousand troops from the territory and give Kashmiri their inalienable right to self-determination. The Majlis-e-Shoora called upon the international community to use all tools at its disposal to hold India accountable for its illegal and unilateral actions and human rights violations against the Kashmiri people. It urged the international community to pressurize India to adhere to its international human rights obligations and allow international media and Independent Observers entry into the Indian Illegal Occupied Jammu and Kashmir to investigate and examine the excessive use of force and violence against the Kashmiri people. Parliament demanded India to remove restrictions on media, Internet, movement and peaceful assembly in the Occupied Territory, besides, repealing the draconian law. Parliament in its resolution stressed the BJP government’s threatening statements, belligerent rhetoric and irresponsible posture pose a grave threat to peace and stability in South Asia. It underscored that BJP-RSS dispensation is driven by a toxic mix of extremist ideology and hegemonic designs which are a threat to the Kashmiris under its occupation as well as its minorities and peace and stability of the region. The resolution said there is a possibility that India may resort to a false flag operation or ill-conceived misadventure against Pakistan, reaffirming the resolve of the entire Pakistani nation and armed forces to thwart any action effectively and resolutely. Parliament also welcomed the three discussions on the Kashmir dispute at the United Nations Security Council after a gap of fifty-five years. The Joint Sitting of Parliament passed The Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matters) Bill, 2020. The bill was moved by Federal Minister for Interior Ijaz Ahmed Shah. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has categorically stated that Pakistan will not hold any dialogue with India until it rescinds the illegal and unilateral actions of 5th August 2019 in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking in the joint sitting of the Parliament, he said that the Kashmir dispute stands internationalized today like never before because of the active diplomacy of the present government. He said Pakistan has forcefully raised the lingering dispute at the international level. He said the UN Security Council held discussion for the third time on the Kashmir dispute yesterday regardless of the Indian attempts to block this discussion. He said fourteen of the fifteen members of the UN Security Council expressed their opinion on the issue. The minister said it is because of our diplomatic and political out reach that the international image of India stands dented and we have defeated its narrative against Pakistan.