ISLAMABAD: Calling India’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir the defining conflict of the South Asia region, and a driver of its rogue behavior, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has termed the continued denial of basic human rights, dignity and identity to Kashmiris living under illegal occupation “a recipe for regional instability”.

The prime minister, in a message on Youm-i-Istehsal — the anniversary of the revocation of India-held Kashmir’s special status by the Narendra Modi government on Aug 5, 2019 — reiterated “strongest condemnation” of India’s illegal and unilateral actions to alter the demographic structure and political landscape of the India-occupied Kashmir.

He also flayed India’s efforts to silence genuine Kashmiri leaders as part of the wider hegemonic and extremist agenda that informs its illegal occupation of the disputed region.

“The imprisonment of Kashmiri leaders and activists, including Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik and Masarrat Alam Bhatt will never dim the resolve of our Kashmiri sisters and brothers,” he added.

Ahead of Youm-i-Istehsal, ISPR says India’s repressive actions, belligerent posture and incendiary rhetoric only exacerbate regional instability

He also reasserted Pakistan’s unflinching stance, moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people.

On the occasion, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir along with the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff, and the Pakistan armed forces reaffirmed their unwavering solidarity with the resilient and courageous people of India-held Kashmir.

According to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, the armed forces of Pakistan fully support the legitimate and ongoing struggle of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in international law and UN Security Council resolutions.

Separately, Kashmir Affairs Minister Amir Muqam, while addressing a presser, slammed Indian efforts to convert the Kashmiri Muslims into a disempowered community in their own land. Ever since Aug 5, 2019, he said, the Indian government had taken scores of measures aimed at changing the demographic structure and political disposition of occupied Kashmir.

Some of the newly-introduced or modified laws pertain to issuance of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris and ownership of land and property by the outsiders, he said.

The delimitation of electoral constituencies has also been changed and the lieutenant governor has been given more powers in administrative matters, he added.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2025