Daily Times

Member of British Parliament Lord Qurban Hussain along with Chairman Jammu Kashmir Self-Determination Movement International (JKSDMI) Raja Najabat Hussain called on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday and discussed matters of mutual interest.

The meeting discussed diplomatic efforts of the members of the British Parliament and international forums in highlighting the human rights violations in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The Foreign Minister lauded Lord Qurban on raising the issue of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in the British Parliament and for speaking out against the atrocities perpetrated against the oppressed Kashmiris.

He congratulated Raja Najabat Hussain on holding a successful webinar on the situation in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Qureshi said the Kashmiris around the world had categorically rejected the unilateral and unconstitutional measures taken by the Indian government in occupied Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

He mentioned that all minorities in India were insecure due to India’s Hindutva policies and said that the nefarious conspiracies to alter the demography of Kashmir had been exposed. He said protests were held on Thursday all over Pakistan in solidarity with Kashmiri brothers and against India’s unilateral measures.

Qureshi said Pakistan wants peaceful relations with all countries of the region, including India. Peace in the region, he said, could not be established without resolving Kashmir issue in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions and aspirations of Kashmiri people.

He called upon India to withdraw its unilateral measures taken in occupied Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

Referring to a recent letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the Security Council, the Foreign Minister said that Pakistan would continue to provide political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris.

Meanwhile, coinciding with the second anniversary of India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan High Commission in London hosted a seminar and photo exhibition to mark Youm-e-Istehsal. The seminar brought together a large number of British Parliamentarians, Kashmiri leaders, academia and media persons in addition to eminent members of the British Pakistani community.

British Parliamentarians who participated in the Seminar and addressed the audience, in person, or virtually, included Andrew Gwynne MP, Chair Labour Friends of Kashmir; Paul Bristow MP, Co-Chair Conservative Friends of Kashmir; Yasmin Qureshi MP, Chair APPG on Pakistan; James Daly MP, Co-Chair Conservative Friends of Kashmir; Imran Hussain MP; Lord Wajid Khan; Naz Shah MP; Khalid Mahmood MP; Imran Hussain MP; and Afzal Khan MP. Raja Najabat Hussain, Chairman Jammu Kashmir Self Determination Movement International and Dr. Nazir Gilani, President JKCHR, as well as Councillors Yasmin Dar and Liaquat Ali, also spoke on the occasion. Recorded video messages by Chairperson All Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir (APPKG), Debbie Abrahams MP and President Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan were also played on the occasion.

In his remarks, High Commissioner Moazzam Ahmad Khan said India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, seeking to alter the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir were in clear violation of the UN Charter and international law, a press release issued by Pakistan High Commission said. He reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to the just struggle of the Kashmiris for self-determination as promised to them in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. He stated that India was not just content with simply usurping rights of Kashmiris, taking away all freedoms and unleashing a reign of terror. It was systematically decimating Kashmir’s cultural, social, political, demographic and economic distinctiveness. Speaking on the occasion, President AJK, British Parliamentarians and Kashmiri leaders condemned ongoing human rights violations of the Kashmiri people by Indian occupation forces.

They termed Indian actions of 05 August 2019 and onward, illegal and in violation of the international law, and hence, demanded their unconditional revocation. The speakers also called upon India to immediately end the siege of IIOJK, stop its egregious violations of human rights, and take steps for the full implementation of the relevant UNSC resolutions on the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.