Daily Times

Pakistan on Thursday rejected the illegal ‘bifurcation’ of Indian-held Kashmir into two Union Territories. “Any change of status quo in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir is in complete violation of the UN Security Council resolutions and agreements between India and Pakistan, especially the Simla Agreement,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. “The occupied Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised disputed territory. No step by the government of India can change this. These changes are illegal and void as per the relevant UNSC Resolutions, and do not prejudice the right to self-determination of the people of the occupied valley,” the statement added.

The Foreign Office said the measures announced by India on August 5 have been forced upon the people of Indian-held Kashmir through the barrel of gun by turning the region into a prison by over 900,000 Indian security forces. “Political leaders, civil society members and common people, including women and young children, remain under illegal detention,” the FO statement said. “An iron curtain remains in place on more than eight million Kashmiri people snapping their communications with the outside world. Curfew remains imposed and movement of people restricted. Many people, especially women and children, are being continuously abused and tortured by Indian occupation forces,” it added.

The Foreign Office said illegal and unilateral changes effected by India are in no way an ‘internal matter’ as Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains on the agenda of the Security Council. “Furthermore, contrary to the false projection by the Indian authorities, the purpose of these illegal changes in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir is neither development of the region nor welfare of the Kashmiri people,” it said. “The real motive is to alter the demographic structure of the Muslim majority state in pursuance of the extremist Hindutva ideology,” it went on to say. “The international community must take notice that transfer of civilian population from outside into IHK is in grave violation of the international laws particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention,” it added.

The Foreign Office asserted that the people of Indian-held Kashmir will never accept the illegal and forceful occupation. “The illegal unilateral actions taken by India will only further aggravate the human rights situation in the valley and threaten to destabilise the peace, security and stability of the South Asian region as well as the world,” it added.

The statement called upon India to stop brutalising the innocent Kashmiris who are suffering under the illegal occupation for the last seven decades. “India should immediately withdraw its military forces from the region, remove draconian laws, restore basic human rights of the people, free all detainees, lift all restrictions on the free movement and communications, allow unimpeded and full access to the UN and other international human rights observers, including independent foreign media,” the statement maintained. “It is imperative that India implements the UN Security Council resolutions on the right of Kashmiris to self-determination, without further prevarication,” it added.

The statement reaffirmed that Pakistan will continue to extend its full moral, political and diplomatic support to the suffering Kashmiri brothers and sisters until the realization of the inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.