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Parliament adopts unanimous resolution to express solidarity with IIOJK people

Parliament adopts unanimous resolution to express solidarity with IIOJK people
February 8, 2023 Web Desk

ISLAMABAD (APP) - The joint session of the parliament on Wednesday adopted a unanimous resolution to express solidarity with the oppressed people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in their just struggle for right to self-determination.

According to the resolution presented by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi on behalf of Minister for Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, February 5, is annually observed as the ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ as the Jammu and Kashmir issue remained one of the oldest unresolved international disputes on the United Nations (UN) as numerous Security Council resolutions had been adopted since 1948 for its peaceful resolution.

The joint session reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmir cause and paid rich tributes to the valor, courage, and sacrifices of the people of the IIOJK.

It appreciated the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir for their steadfast political support to their Kashmiri brothers and sisters living across the line of control and rejected India’s unilateral and illegal actions since August 5, 2019.

The parliament expressed grave concern over attempts to introduce demographic changes in IIOJK, inter-alia, through the issuance of domicile certificates to outsiders; allowing the purchase of land by non-Kashmiris; the addition of temporary residents to the voters’ lists; and fresh delimitation of electoral constituencies.

It emphasized that any political process, held under foreign occupation, could not be a substitute for the exercise of the right to self-determination by the people of Jammu and Kashmir as provided in the relevant UNSC resolutions.

It expressed serious concerns at the presence of more than 900,000 Indian forces that had turned the IIOJK into one of the most militarized regions of the world.

It condemned the ongoing human rights violations in IIOJK, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, the so-called ‘cordon- and search operations, destruction and confiscation of properties, and torture.

The joint session expressed serious concern at the continued illegal detention and incarceration of Kashmiri political leaders and activists and deplored the impunity with which the Indian forces continued their egregious human rights violations in IIOJK, under draconian laws that defied the norms of justice.

It also condemned the belligerent statements of the Indian political leaders and military officers regarding Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, threatening regional peace and stability.

It reaffirmed the unshakeable resolve of the Pakistani nation to thwart any Indian aggression and urged India to allow an independent investigation into the human rights violations in IIOJK as recommended by the Reports of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of June, 2018 and July, 2019.

It demanded that India must rescind its illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 and subsequent measures and earnestly implement the relevant UNSC resolutions so as to enable the Kashmiri people to determine their future through the democratic method of a fair and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices.