Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday berated the Narendra Modi-led Indian government for “brazenly” violating the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
The prime minister’s message comes as Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and across the world observe the Right to Self-Determination Day today in their bid to remind the UN of implementing its own resolutions on the dispute passed on January 5 in 1949.
It was on January 5, 1949, when the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan adopted a resolution that guaranteed the Kashmiris the right to self-determination through an impartial plebiscite.
The prime minister, in a series of tweets, said the UNSC commitment of an UN-supervised plebiscite in Kashmir remains unfulfilled due to the attitude of the Modi government.
“The Hindutva Modi govt brazenly violates UNSC resolutions, international humanitarian laws, and international conventions, including 4th Geneva Convention, and commits war crimes by seeking to alter status and demography of IIOJK,” he said.
The prime minister said the international community, especially the UN, must act against India’s war crimes and crimes against humanity in IIOJK.
“Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to the just Kashmiri struggle for self-determination,” he added.
In a separate message on the occasion, the prime minister, while reminding the world community that it cannot abandon its moral and legal responsibilities towards Kashmiris, said that durable peace in South Asia is contingent upon peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with international legitimacy.
The importance of the inalienable right to self-determination has been acknowledged in all important human rights covenants and decisions of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, the prime minister said.
“While observing 5th of January as the Right to Self-Determination Day for the Kashmiris, we reiterate our commitment to uphold the fundamental human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and pay homage to the Kashmiris’ just struggle spanning over more than seven decades,” he said.
“We are commemorating this day to remind the world community that it cannot abandon its moral and legal responsibilities towards the Kashmiri people.”
He pointed out that the right to self-determination was granted to the Kashmiris by the United Nations and cannot be unilaterally denied by India.
Three generations of Kashmiris have waited for the world community and the UN to honour their solemn commitments made to Kashmiris, he said.
“Indian atrocities in the IOJK continue unabated but the courage and spirit of Kashmiris remain strong,” he concluded.
