ISLAMABAD:
Youm-e-Istehsal will be observed on August 5 in solidarity with the illegally occupied Indians of Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJ & K), Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday.
On August 5 last year, the Modi government launched demographic apartheid in illegally occupied India Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJ & K) and divided the area into three parts, he warned.
“The Indian government is trying to divide the Kashmiris through this illegal act,” he said, speaking at a press conference in Islamabad. Qureshi is flanked by Minister of Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of National Security Moeed Yusuf.
Qureshi points out that Kashmiri people face great difficulties, pain and persecution under military siege that has continued for the past year.
The illegal action on August 5 aimed at ending the Muslim identity of Kashmiris in IIOJ & K. India was also divided on the steps taken on August 5, he said, reminding that the Kashmiri people were rejecting Indian steps.
By introducing new domicile rules, which aim to change the demographics at IIOJ & K, India’s intentions were revealed once again, he said.
Pakistan supports the Kashmiris in their just struggle for the right to self-determination, the foreign minister said.
On August 5, 2019, the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government imposed Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution, canceling the law giving Kashmir special status.
A few months later, the Indian right-wing government Narendra Modi instituted a controversial domicile law in the occupied valley. The certificate, a kind of citizenship right, gives a person the right to live and work for the government in the area, which until last year was only for local residents.
With regard to observing the day of Youm-e-Istehsal, Qureshi said that the country would observe a minute of silence, followed by a march of solidarity in the provincial and federal capitals.
A memorandum will be presented to the United Nations Observer Mission, and Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the Azad Kashmir assembly that day in solidarity with the people of Kashmir – to inform them that they are not alone in their right to a fair freedom from illegal Indian occupation, apprated Qureshi.
In the same vein, Qureshi informed that the Kashmir Highway in Islamabad was named the Srinagar Highway.
The streets of solidarity, photo exhibits and seminars will be arranged with SOPs related to the virus with consideration to raise the voice against Indian atrocities at IIOJ & K, Qureshi said.
He urged countries, Pakistani and Muslim Diaspora around the world to stand in solidarity with Kashmiris, on the day that opened a new era of hostility in the disputed region, with the involvement of the local press. Kashmiri people were locked up even before the pandemic broke out, he warned.
According to the foreign minister, Islamabad has decided to increase diplomatic outreach to highlight India’s oppression at IIOJ & K. Global leaders will be contacted and letters will be written in this regard, with Pakistani diplomats to play a proactive role in the process, he said.
Imran gave new life to the Kashmir dispute with his speech at the UN General Assembly, according to Qureshi. Pakistan’s leadership is united on the Kashmir issue, he said, adding that India’s efforts to violate this consensus had failed.
Qureshi thanked Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Azerbaijan and other countries for supporting Pakistan’s attitude towards Kashmir. Discussions about the dispute were held in world parliaments and the European Union where the issue of Kashmir was voiced and the resolution was prosecuted according to the aspirations of the people of Kashmir, he said.
The international media remains critical of India’s aggressive policies and now “India’s shine has become a burning Indian,” Qureshi said. He reiterated Pakistan’s determination to raise the Kashmir case until curfew and the communication blackout was lifted at IIOJ & K.
Meanwhile, Shibli Faraz, urged the country to stand in solidarity with the Kashmiris at this critical time. He called on local and international media to play a proactive role in this matter too.
Faraz appealed to the public to observe Youm-e-Istehsal in order to indicate that India’s illegal actions at IIOJ & K were intolerable.
The current government is committed to making an all-out effort to resolve the Kashmir dispute and the day is not far away when the Kashmiris will be eliminated from the Indian conquest, the prime minister’s information minister said.
Moeed Yusuf noted that by the unilateral action of the Indian government, India violated the Shimla agreement and international law.
Meanwhile, in connection with the Afghan agreement, Qureshi said it was agreed that 5,000 Taliban prisoners would soon be released. Answering the question, he expressed hope that the long-awaited intra-Afghan dialogue would be held after Eidul Azha.