Daily Times

Pakistan has reaffirmed its commitment to the Kashmiri people’s struggle for self-determination, with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urging the international community to act decisively to uphold their rights.

In a message on the 76th anniversary of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) resolution, Zardari emphasised Pakistan’s continued political, diplomatic, and moral support for Kashmiris.

The UNCIP resolution, adopted on 5 January 1949, guarantees a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Today, we reaffirm the inalienable right of Kashmiris to self-determination, which is enshrined in international law and supported by human rights instruments,” Zardari said.

The President condemned India for denying this right for over seven decades and criticised its actions since 5 August 2019, which he said aim to alter the demographic and political fabric of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

“These steps are an attempt to turn Kashmiris into a disempowered community in their own homeland,” he said, adding, “Despite systemic brutalities, the spirit of the Kashmiri people remains unbroken, and their struggle for freedom cannot be suppressed.”Zardari also called on the international community, particularly the United Nations, to fulfil its responsibility and support Kashmiris in exercising their right to self-determination.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif echoed these sentiments, urging global powers to honour their commitments to the Kashmiri people.

In a message on Right to Self-Determination Day for the People of Jammu & Kashmir observed on 5 January 2025, he said the fifth of January is annually observed as the ‘Right to Self-Determination Day’ for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

On this day in 1949, he said the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) adopted the historic resolution that guarantees a free and fair plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, to enable the Kashmiri people to realize their inalienable right to self-determination.

“Right to self-determination is a core principle of the UN Charter, as well as of international law. Every year, the UN General Assembly adopts a resolution that advocates the legal right of people to decide their own destiny. It expresses unequivocal support for the realization of the right to self-determination for peoples under foreign occupation. Regrettably, the Kashmiri people have not been able to exercise this inalienable right for over seven decades,” he explained.

He said the international community must also call for immediate cessation of human rights violations, release of political prisoners, and restoration of fundamental rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people.

“Today, India continues to take multiple steps to consolidate its occupation of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), undermining the internationally recognized disputed nature of this territory. Through a series of illegal and unilateral actions taken since 5 August 2019, India is trying to alter the demographic and political structure of the disputed territory, aimed at transforming the majority Kashmiri people into a disempowered minority community, in their own homeland.”