Excellencies,
Distinguished
Guests,
Ladies &
Gentlemen:
Assalam-o-Alaikum
I would like to express
my sincerest thanks to ESAM for co-organizing this event with the Pakistan
Embassy on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day.
Their presence and
support is a source of great strength for millions of oppressed people of
Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, and an important contribution towards realization
of their right to self-determination.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
Speaking to all India
Radio on 3 November 1947, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru,
made a pledge, and I quote:
“We
have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the
people. The pledge we have given not only to the people of Kashmir but to the
world. We will not and can not
back out of it.”
This pledge to the
people of Jammu & Kashmir for their right to self-determination was
reiterated by Prime Minister Nehru numerous times in his public statements as
well as in his correspondence with the Pakistani leadership.
Sadly, and tragically, he
and his successors refused to honour this commitment i.e his country “will
not back” out of its pledge.
However, Nehru was ironically
right when said that his country “can not back out” of its pledge.
The people of Occupied Jammu
& Kashmir, through their valiant struggle, and over 94,000 lost lives since
1990 alone, have proved beyond a shadow of doubt that India “cannot”
deny the people of Jammu & Kashmir their right to self-determination,
despite the use of state terrorism and repression.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
The tragedy of the
people of Occupied Jammu & Kashmir is that not only India, but also the
international community has failed to fulfill its moral, ethical and legal obligations
towards the Kashmiris.
Kashmir remains one of
the longest lasting situations of foreign occupation, like Palestine, and the
longest unresolved issue on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.
The UN Security Council,
through its numerous resolutions, clearly and unequivocally, declared that the
final disposition of the State of Jammu & Kashmir would be made in
accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method
of a free and impartial plebiscite, conducted under the auspices of the United Nation.
Ironically, yet again,
it was India that took the Jammu & Kashmir dispute to the United Nations
Security Council, and it was Nehru who once again gave his word of honour in
the Indian Legislature on 2nd January 1952 when he said:
“We
have taken the issue to the United Nations and given our word of honour for a
peaceful solution. As a great nation, we cannot go back on it.”
Despite pledging the
honour of his nation, India, the relevant UN Security Council resolutions on
Jammu & Kashmir remain unimplemented.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
Today, Occupied Jammu
& Kashmir remains one of the most militarized zones in the world, where more
than 700,000 Indian security forces continue to unleash a reign of terror, encouraged
by “black laws” that ensure complete impunity to perpetrators of human rights
violations.
The seven decades of
crimes against humanity in the Indian occupied Kashmir is a blot on the collective
conscience of humanity, marked by discovery of mass graves; rape and sexual assault; extra-judicial killings and torture;
enforced disappearances; unending curfews; house arrests and detentions of
Kashmiri leaders; and collective, inhuman and degrading punishments.
With each
passing year, Indian repression has been further emboldened by the inaction of
the international community.
When the extrajudicial
killing of a Kashmiri youth leader, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, on 8 July 2016, triggered
the latest phase of the indigenous uprising in Indian Occupied Kashmir – termed
by many as another Kashmiri Intifada – India responded yet again with brute
force.
Live ammunition and tear
gas were fired indiscriminately at the protestors. Ambulances transporting
those injured were stopped and attacked. Hospital and clinics providing medical
aid were raided, and medical staff and doctors were harassed.
And, making a mockery of
all norms of universal moral, ethical, humanitarian and human rights
principles, pellet-gun shots were aimed directly at the protestors’ faces.
Dozens of Kashmiris were
martyred; and hundreds suffered debilitating injuries to their eyes.
Many lost their vision
permanently – a majority of them women and children.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
As if this brutality did
not quench their thrust for cruelty, Indian security forces have repeatedly resorted
to meting out degrading and inhuman “punishments” to Kashmiris.
On 9 April 2017, in
Utligam village in Indian Occupied Kashmir, a young man was tied with ropes to
the front of an Indian military jeep, and paraded for hours as an “example to
stone-throwers”.
Instead of punishing the
military officials involved in this heinous crime, they were in fact rewarded
by the Indian political and military leadership.
This incident is not an
exception, but a rule through which Indian military force operates in the
occupied territory.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
Despite an international
outcry against these brutalities, as well as a call by the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for an
independent inquiry into these gross violations of human rights, India
continues to prevent all access to human rights monitors and media in the
region.
The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of
the Organization (IPHRC) of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has consistently been
denied access to the Indian Occupied Kashmir, despite repeated calls by the OIC
Council of Foreign Ministers.
The IPHRC undertook a visit to Azad Jammu &
Kashmir in July 2017 and interviewed many Kashmiri refugees who had been forced
to abandon their homes in the Indian occupied Kashmir and seek refuge across
the Line of Control (LoC).
The post-visit report of IPHRC, a copy of which is
available in this room, highlights the gross violations of human rights in
Indian Occupied Kashmir as well as continued denial of the right to self-determination
of the Kashmiris.
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
Pakistan’s
principled position on the settlement of Jammu and Kashmir dispute is
consistent with the UN Security Council Resolutions, which provide for the
final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the will of the
Kashmiri people to be determined through a free and impartial plebiscite under
the UN auspices.
Pakistan, as
well as Kashmiris, have reject farcical elections held under coercion in Indian
Occupied Kashmir, and do not consider these as a substitute to free and
impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices.
Pakistan continues
to extend unwavering political, moral and diplomatic support to the just cause
of the Kashmiri people and shall continue to do so, Inshallah.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The
Kashmiris, and the people of Pakistan, deeply appreciate the support and
solidarity they have received from the government and people of Turkey.
Turkey
has been one of the most important voices, consistently raising the plight of
the Kashmiris internationally and recognizing their right to self-determination
in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Turkey,
as the chair of OIC, has also taken a very strong moral and ethical position to
send a fact-finding mission to Kashmir.
Millions
of people of Pakistan as well as the people of Jammu & Kashmir will never
forget that their Turkish brothers and sisters stood with them in their most
difficult hour.
At the
conclusion of my speech, I will leave you with small video clip highlighting
the support of the Turkish leadership for the just resolution of the Jammu
& Kashmir dispute. At the same time, I express the hope that with the moral
and political support of the international community, as well as that of the
Muslim Ummah, that day is not far when the Kashmiris will realize their just
and inalienable right to self-determination.
Thank you
