Daily Times

Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday said that the issue of Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) was a matter of stability in the region as well as peace in the world urged the international community to realize its responsibility to resolve this South Asian conflict.

In his message on the occasion of the Kashmir Black Day, he said that the illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India, against the will of the people there, had completed 76 years. “During this long period, India has martyred thousands of Kashmiris and tortured millions to maintain its occupation, turning the paradise-like valley into the world’s largest open prison,” he added. Bilawal Bhutto said that the struggle and sacrifices of Kashmiris reflected the unprecedented movement of a nation dedicated to the spirit of freedom.

He pointed out that freedom of Kashmir from illegal occupation of India was the mission of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, adding that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto continued struggle for the cause of Kashmir throughout her life, while Asif Ali Zardari had been raising the slogan of “Pakistan Khappe” as well as “Kashmir Khappe”. “Advocating for Kashmir has been part of my upbringing. Even as a foreign minister, I have raised my voice on the Kashmir issue at every forum in the world,” he said, adding that as a result of his efforts, countries like Germany were now talking that what was happening in the occupied valley could not be allowed to continue. The chairman PPP said that the referendum under the United Nations in Kashmir was a democratic and basic human right of Kashmiri people.

He said that during the last 4 years, India’s repressive measures against Occupied Kashmiri had accelerated, adding that fake domiciles had been issued to millions of non-Kashmiris to make the Muslim majority areas of the occupied valley into Hindu majority constituencies.

“These measures of the Modi government are undemocratic and illegal and are direct violation of UN resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Convention,” he added. Bilawal Bhutto said that until Kashmiri people get freedom, PPP would continue to support its Kashmiri brothers politically, diplomatically and morally, adding: “Quaid-i-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had announced to fight for Kashmir for a thousand years, PPP still stands by it.” “I am sure that the present determined Kashmiri youth generation of the occupied valley, who are the descendants of martyrs and Ghazis, will liberate Kashmir. I am confident that the day is not far when I will offer Jumma Namaz at the historic Jama Masjid in Srinagar and visit the Dargah Hazratbal,” he said.