Kashmiris observe Right to Self-Determination Day

SRINAGAR (KMS) – Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and the world observed the Right to Self-Determination Day on Saturday to remind the world community that the UN resolutions on Kashmir remain unimplemented even after the passage of more than six decades. On this day in 1949, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution, acknowledging the Kashmiris’ right of self-determination. However, it is unfortunate that the world body has so far failed to implement its resolutions, resulting in the continued sufferings of the Kashmiri people. Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a statement, urged the international community to fulfill its commitment and hold promised plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir. Other Hurriyat leaders and organizations including Hilal Ahmed War, Farida Bahenji, Abdul Samad Inqilabi, Javaid Ahmed Mir, Imtiaz Ahmed Reshi and Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party in their statements demanded the UN implement its resolutions on Kashmir. All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Gilani, in a statement in Srinagar, said that Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s recent remarks were an open admission of the representative character of the Hurriyat leaders and that the Kashmir dispute could not be resolved without them. However, Syed Ali Gilani emphasized that India was never serious to resolve the Kashmir dispute through dialogue and it had never extended official offer for talks. He also reiterated the call for shutdown in Sopore, tomorrow, given by the Joint Resistance Leadership to pay tributes to the victims of massacre carried out by Indian troops in the town on 6th January 1993. Meanwhile, thousands of people marched towards Aripal area of Tral in Pulwama district on Saturday, after Indian troops launched a cordon and search operation to nab some youth. The troops blasted a residential house with explosive material and reportedly killed a youth during the operation. Earlier, an Indian soldier was injured in an attack in the same area. Indian police and troops fired bullets, pellets and teargas shells to disperse the protesters, injuring several of them. Severe clashes between the protesters and the Indian forces’ personnel were witnessed in the area. Two other youth were injured after Indian troops used brute force against the mourners heading home after burying a woman in Sherabad area of Tral. On the other hand, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir chapter organized a protest demonstration in front of the United Nations office in Islamabad to remind the World Body of its obligations regarding settlement of the Kashmir dispute. A protest rally was held in Muzaffarabad under the auspices of the Hizbul Mujahideen against the Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir. Meanwhile, heavy snowfall since yesterday had snapped surface link of the territory with the rest of the world. Five members of a family from Tangdhar area of Kupwara district died of asphyxiation at a rented accommodation in Srinagar.