Ambassador of Pakistan M. Syrus Sajjad Qazi speech on the Jammu & Kashmir Dispute at the meeting of University Presidents of Anadolu Youth Association in Ankara on 26 October 2019

Mr. Salih Turhan, President of Anadolu Youth Association
Delegates from Universities from across Turkey
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Assalam-u-Alaikum
I would like to express my gratitude to the Anadolu Youth Association for inviting me to share views on an extremely important issue – Jammu & Kashmir dispute.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tomorrow, 27 October, will be marked by millions of Kashmiris across the world as “Black Day.”
It was on this day in 1947, that the overwhelmingly Muslim majority state of Jammu & Kashmir was forcibly occupied by India, giving birth to one of the darkest chapters of human history in the modern times.
This day marks the beginning of one of the most protracted disputes of modern times, that remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council to this day.
The denial of the right to self-determination to the Kashmiris remains at the very heart of this bitter dispute.
The UN Charter as well as relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir recognize the inalienable right to self-determination of the Kashmiris.
However, for the last seventy-two years, India has blatantly violated these UN Security Council resolutions.  
Meanwhile, the number of Indian occupation troops in Jammu and Kashmir has increased from thousands to hundreds of thousands, almost approaching a million.
Indian has used unimaginable force against the Kashmiris whenever they have risen to demand their right of self-determination.
Since 1989 alone, close to 100,000 Kashmiris have been martyred in extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions.
Thousands have disappeared, their loved ones waiting for decades for them to turn up, their wives living the life of half-widows, their children growing up as half-orphans.
Thousands of Kashmiri women have been raped.
Hundreds have lost their eyes and limbs to pellet guns, which have been used with impunity against civilians, including women and children.
Ladies and gentlemen,
If things were bad before, they have become infinitely worse since 2014, when the current Indian leadership came to power.
It believes in the ideology of Hindutva – that India is only for the Hindus, and followers of other faiths, particularly Muslims, can either live in India by becoming Hindus or by not demanding any rights as Indian citizens.
The adherents of this ideology, who not very long ago orchestrated a brutal massacre against Muslims in the Indian Gujrat, are now re-enacting it on a grander scale against Kashmiris in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, as well as against the Muslims in India.
For this ideology, the cultural, religious and civilizational identity of the Kashmiris symbolizes yet another Babari Mosque – an edifice that they aim to forcibly tear down and replace by their own.
India’s recent illegal measures in Jammu & Kashmir are manifestation of the same ideology.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On 5 August 2019 through an illegal “Presidential Order,” the Indian government unilaterally scrapped Articles 35-A and 370 of Indian Constitution, which ensured the “special status” of the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOK); defined the residents of Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir; and limited subjects like property ownership and state citizenship to the current residents of the area till the final settlement of the dispute.
These steps are in direct contravention of the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir, which clearly state that India cannot bring about any material changes in the status quo in the disputed territory.
This highly provocative path chosen by India will further destabilize a region, which has already seen several conflicts as a result of non-resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
What makes the situation all the more concerning is that since 5 August 2019, the egregious violations of the fundamental rights and freedoms in the Occupied territory have increased exponentially.
Before taking these illegal measures, India placed the entire Occupied territory under a lock-down by deploying another 180,000 troops in addition to the over 700,000 troops already deployed in the most militarized region in the world.
For over two months now, Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir remains under a total lock-down.
Millions of Kashmiri men, women and children remain prisoners in their very own homes, on their own land.
Armed Indian soldiers stand before every house; check-points and barbed wires block every street; and military vehicles patrol the empty roads.
Farmers have been cut-off from their orchards and fields; children from their schools; faithful from the mosques; patients from the hospitals; and above all, mothers and fathers from their sons and daughters. 
Hospitals are short of medicines, and markets of food and daily essentials.
Kashmiri political leaders, including those India once claimed to be its supporters, remain under detention.
Those who dare to step out, are forced back by “pellet guns” – an inhuman weapon being used to inflict maximum pain and misery.
The international media outcry and strong criticism of the human rights organizations has failed to deter India to restore the fundamental rights of the Kashmiris.

Ladies and gentlemen,
It is imperative for the international community to step in and discharge its moral, ethical and legal responsibility by bringing an end to the on-going Indian gross violations of human rights and collective punishments against the Kashmiris.
It must call on India to immediately lift the blockade of the Occupied Jammu & Kashmir; allow international human rights organizations and observers to access the region to assess the situation on ground; end impunity; and conduct an independent inquiry under the UN auspices to hold those responsible for decades of systematic, and gross violations of fundamental rights of Kashmiris.

Above all, the inalienable right of the Kashmiris to self-determination must be upheld.

Today, South Asia, which is home to one-fifths of the entire humanity, stands on the brink of another conflict.

Indian leaders are threatening to use nuclear weapons against Pakistan. 

Violations of the Line of Control, targeting Pakistani civilians have increased in the recent days.

Inaction on this issue is no longer an option.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Turkey is an important member of the international community, and has a history for standing up for the cause of truth and justice globally.
The people of Pakistan and Turkey are bound together in an unparalleled and fraternal relationship that is embedded in the very hearts of the peoples of the two countries.
The two nations have always stood by one another under the most difficult and challenging circumstances.
The people and the Government of Pakistan as well as those suffering in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir are thankful to the people and leadership of Turkey for their strong support on the issue of Jammu & Kashmir.
We are particularly thankful to Anadolu Youth Association for organizing protests on 23 August in various cities across Turkey including those in front of Indian Embassy in Ankara and Consulate in Istanbul.
Turkey has indeed once again proved that it has always been and will Inshallah continue to stand by the Kashmiris.
 Ladies and gentlemen,
While we must keep on pricking the conscience of the world on issues like Palestine and Jammu & Kashmir, the reality is that the Muslim Ummah is facing these challenges because of our own weaknesses and divisions.
We need to rise above our internal differences; overcome our economic and political dependence on others; and revive the great intellectual traditions of our civilization.    
It is only through building our own internal strengths that we can overcome the daunting challenges of the present day.

I thank you.

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