Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday reaffirmed the country’s resolve to continue extending its full moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people for their realisation of their right to self-determination.

In a statement released by the Prime Minister Office (PMO), the prime minister recounted that January 5th was annually observed as the Right to Self-Determination Day since the United Nations (UN) in 1949 “adopted the historic resolution that guarantees a free and fair plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, to enable the Kashmiri people to realise their inalienable right to self-determination”.

On Jan 5 in 1949, the UN had made a commitment to the realisation of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the UN. Jan 5 is observed as the Right to Self-determination of Kashmiris Day by Pakistanis and Kashmiris across the world every year.

In the statement, PM Shehbaz stressed that the right to self-determination was a core principle in the UN Charter, with the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopting a resolution to advocate for the legal right to self-determination every year.

“Regrettably, the Kashmiri people have not been able to exercise this inalienable right for over seven decades,” the statement read.

“It is time for the international community, including the United Nations, to live up to their promises and take meaningful measures, enabling the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination,” he said

The prime minister also stressed a collective call by the global community for “immediate cessation of human rights violations, release of political prisoners, and restoration of fundamental rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people”.

Furthermore, the statement underscored India’s violations of the internationally disputed territory, highlighting that the country “continues to take multiple steps to consolidate its occupation of the of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)”.

On August 5, 2019, India’s Narendra Modi-led government stripped the Muslim-majority territory of its special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution, splitting the former state into two territories directly ruled by New Delhi.

The move allowed people from the rest of India to acquire property in India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) and settle there permanently. Kashmiris, as well as critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government, saw the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.

“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,” it said, adding that it was also “subjecting the Kashmiri people to wide-ranging gross, systematic human rights violations”.

“Pakistan reaffirms its strong resolve to continue extending its full moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people, in their just struggle for realisation of their right to self-determination, as enshrined in the Charter and relevant resolutions of the UN, as well as in international law,” the statement added.

President Zardari reiterates support for Kashmiri people

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari also reiterated that “Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to the valiant Kashmiri people in their just struggle for inalienable right to self-determination”, state-owned Radio Pakistan reported.

The president, in his message, said India had been “denying right to self-determination to the people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for over seven decades and subjecting them to oppression, violence, and systemic brutalities”.