Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed Pakistan’s unwavering political, diplomatic and moral support for the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), declaring that Pakistan would never recognise or accept India’s unilateral actions of August 5, 2019.
The CM also urged the United Nations and the international human rights community to take immediate and meaningful action against the continuing human rights violations in the occupied territory.
In her message on Youm-e-Istehsal-e-Kashmir, the chief minister expressed unwavering solidarity with the people of IIOJK and paid glowing tribute to the martyrs of the Kashmir freedom movement. She also saluted their families for their extraordinary courage, patience and steadfastness in the face of prolonged oppression.
CM Maryam Nawaz said India’s actions of August 5, 2019, were a direct assault on the identity, constitutional status and fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people. She asserted that Pakistan had rejected those unilateral measures from the outset and would never accept any attempt to alter the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir. She called upon the United Nations and all international human rights organisations to fulfil their legal and moral responsibilities by taking urgent notice of the grave human rights situation in IIOJK. She said the people of the occupied territory continued to face systematic repression, political disenfranchisement and widespread violations of their fundamental freedoms.
Describing the Kashmir dispute as one of the world’s gravest and longest unresolved humanitarian crises, the chief minister said decades of oppression and state violence had failed to break the spirit of the Kashmiri people or weaken their legitimate struggle for freedom and the right to self-determination. She added that the slogan, ‘Kashmir Banega Pakistan,’ continued to resonate across the world as a reflection of the unwavering aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
The CM said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had always upheld a principled and unequivocal stance on the Kashmir issue, consistently advocating the cause of the Kashmiri people at every national and international forum.
Reaffirming Pakistan’s enduring commitment to the Kashmir cause, Maryam Nawaz said the country would continue extending its political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of IIOJK. She emphasized that the Pakistani nation would remain firmly committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with its Kashmiri brothers and sisters until they secured their internationally recognised right to self-determination.