Message by the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Kashmiris’ Right to Self-Determination Day (05 January 2021)

Today, the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan are observing Kashmir’s Right to Self-Determination Day. This day is commemorated every year in connection with the resolution that the UN Security Council adopted 72 years ago recognising the right to self-determination of Kashmiris.

UN Security Council resolution passed in January 5, 1949, and other resolutions on the Kashmir conflict are still a reality which cannot be overlooked.

India, over the years, has constantly been creating hurdles in the peaceful settlement of Kashmir issue by refusing to implement these resolutions. As a consequence, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and two nuclear powers of the region – Pakistan and India – are at the threshold of a war today.

India wants to resolve the Kashmir issue through the use of force instead of peaceful political and diplomatic means, but the usurper must keep in mind that none of its tactics can deprive the Kashmiri people of their fundamental right to self-determination.

The right of self-determination is the mother of all human rights and this principle is recognized as the basis of all human rights and human dignity across the world. Therefore, no power on earth can snatch this legitimate and undeniable right of the Kashmiri people.

The appalling and inhumane situation in Kashmir, caused by the Indian Occupation army, has deteriorated to unheard levels of depravity and now the occupation army is poised to eliminate the whole of Kashmiri nation.

It is the moral and humanitarian responsibility of the international community to exert pressure on India and compel it to stop repression in occupied Kashmir and resolve the Kashmir issue through peaceful political and diplomatic means. If this is not stopped, this undoubtedly would be the greatest human tragedy of modern times.

After India’s failure in implementing the UN Security Council resolutions, it is the responsibility of the world body to consider other options within the framework of its Charters, and compel India to grant the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people.

We again call upon the UN Security Council to ensure implementation of its resolution and hold a plebiscite in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir to enable the Kashmiri people to decide their political future.

*********