Kashmiris across the world observing Right to Self-Determination Day

SRINAGAR (92 News) – Kashmiris across the world are observing the Right to Self-Determination Day – on Sunday – with the pledge to continue their liberation struggle till it reaches its ultimate goal. According to the KMS, it was on 5th January in 1949 when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution supporting the Kashmiris’ right to decide their future by themselves through UN-sponsored plebiscite. The day will be marked by various activities including rallies, seminars and conferences to remind the UN that it must implement its resolutions to settle the Kashmir dispute. This year, the day is being observed when occupied Kashmir is under continued military siege on the 154th consecutive day, today. Meanwhile, reeling under severe cold, the residents of the Kashmir Valley continued to suffer immensely on the 154th consecutive day due to the unrelenting lockdown imposed by the Indian authorities. There is no let up in the restrictions imposed under Section 144 in the territory amid massive deployment of Indian troops. The harsh weather has added to the miseries of the people of the valley. The Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only all weather road connecting Kashmir Valley with the rest of the world, remained closed for traffic on 4th successive, today, due to landslides at various places. At least 10,000 passengers, including women, children and elderly persons besides thousands of vehicles remain stranded on the highway. Indian police arrested a youth after raiding SMHS Hospital in Srinagar. Unidentified persons hurled a grenade at the personnel of Indian Central Reserve Police Force posted in Kawdara area of Srinagar, today, resulting in damage to several vehicles. Soon after the incident, Indian troops and police personnel cordoned off the area and launched searches to nab the attackers. Senior leader of Communist Party of India Marxist, Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, speaking at a function in Kolkatta said that the BJP government had turned occupied Kashmir into a virtual prison and a graveyard by locking up leaders of different political parties and by suppressing the dissent after the abrogation of special status of the territory. He urged the Indian intellectuals and members of the civil society to rise in protest against the oppression of people of Kashmir. India’s former National Security Advisor, Shivshankar Menon, addressing an event in New Delhi said that the Citizenship Amendment Act and the withdrawal of special status of Kashmir had led to India being isolated from the international community, even by its traditional allies. In Brussels, the Chairman of Kashmir Council Europe, Ali Raza Syed, in a statement appealed to the UN to fulfill its obligations regarding holding of the promised plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir to enable the Kashmiri people exercise their right to self-determination. On the other hand, thousands of people protested in Srinagar, Magam, Budgam and Kargil against the killing of Iranian top General, Qassem Soleimani in a US airstrike along with several other Iranian and Iraqi military commanders in Baghdad.