Kashmiris to observe Right to Self-Determination Day tomorrow

Srinagar: Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and the world over will observe the 5th January tomorrow as the Right to Self-Determination Day with the pledge to continue their struggle till they achieve this internationally-acknowledged inalienable right.

According to Kashmir Media Service, call for observance of the day has been given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. The day will be marked by various activities including protest demonstrations, rallies, seminars and conferences in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan and in all major capitals of the world to remind the UN that it must implement its relevant resolutions to settle the Kashmir dispute to save the Kashmiris from the Indian brutalities.

It was on 5th January in 1949 when the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution supporting the Kashmiris’ right to decide their future by themselves under a UN-supervised plebiscite. This resolution provides the base for settlement of the lingering dispute, which has become a nuclear flashpoint in South Asia. However, India’s continued intransigent attitude had been an impediment in the way of achieving this objective. Unfortunately, the World Body has failed to implement its resolutions, resulting in the continued sufferings of the Kashmiri people.

The principles laid down in the communications of India and Pakistan with the UNCIP (United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan) on Kashmir dated December 23 and December 25 and adopted by the Commission, are supplementary to the Commission’s Resolution of August 13, 1948. Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Czechoslovakia and the US were members of the commission. The Resolution was unanimously adopted by the UNCIP on January 05, 1949. Earlier, a ceasefire came into effect between Pakistan and India one minute before midnight of first January 1949, following the agreement arrived at through the Commission’s resolution of 13th August 1948.

Over seven decades have lapsed, but no concrete steps have been taken by the UN to implement the resolutions of 13th August 1948 and 5th January 1949. The situation in occupied Kashmir has become more terrible since August 05, 2019 when the Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government revoked the special status of the territory and snatched away all the basic rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people. Thousands of Kashmiris including APHC Chairman, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Aasiya Andrabi and Nayeem Ahmed Khan are languishing in Indian jails and rest are facing hardships due to the Indian atrocities in IIOJK.

The Modi regime is using the Indian army and dreaded agencies RAW, Intelligence Bureau (IB), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and State Investigation Agency (SIA) to suppress the people of IIOJK. East Timor and South Sudan were granted freedom by holding a plebiscite while people of occupied Kashmir are still facing Indian state terrorism.