By Our Diplomatic
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said on Friday that it was matter of grave concern that the Indian occupation forces had martyred five more Kashmiri youth in extra-judicial killings and fake encounters in Kulgam and Kupwara areas in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in the past week.
Speaking at the weekly press briefing here, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said, “We also continue to draw attention of the international community to the deteriorating situation particularly the health of Kashmiri political prisoners including Hurriyat leaders languishing in different jails of India and in IIOJK and we demand their immediate release.”
“We also condemn India’s illegal and unprovoked, literally unjustified economic assault on IIOJK manifested by the recent halting of fresh fruit laden trucks from Kashmir valley by Indian occupation forces. This is kind of an undeclared economic blockade of Kashmiri fruit growers, and a deliberate attempt in our view to destroy the economy of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to punish the Kashmiri people for their struggle for right to self-determination,” he added.
On the floods and the ongoing international assistance and relief efforts, he said, “As we transition from rescue and relief phase of response to this unprecedented climate catastrophe, to the more challenging rehabilitation and reconstruction phase that is upcoming, we are grateful to the unparalleled generosity and resilience of the Pakistanis who have contributed in cash and kind to help their brethren.” He said Pakistan was also thankful to international friends and partners for sending 133 relief flights, besides ships, trucks, and goodness trains to help the flood victims. “We are determined to overcome this adversity with determination, grit, perseverance, and mobilization of national and international efforts.”
Besides remarks on Kashmiris’ plight, Pakistan on Friday also condemned in the strongest terms, the dastardly terrorist attack on an educational institution in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul, in which precious innocent lives were lost and many were injured.
“The government and people of Pakistan extend their profound and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and pray for early recovery of the injured,” Foreign Office said in a statement issued here. “We stand in complete solidarity with our Afghan brethren in the fight against the scourge of terrorism,” the statement added.
Days earlier, Azad Kashmir President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry and 11 other top Kashmiri leaders have drawn United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ attention to India’s grave violations of the UN resolutions on the Kashmir dispute, and urged him to bring India and Pakistan to the negotiating table, along with Kashmiri people’s genuine leadership, to settle the lingering conflict “once and for all”.
“The people of Jammu & Kashmir urge you to oblige India to fulfill its pledges of a free United Nations-supervised plebiscite in order to ensure restoration of democracy and social justice in their land,” they said in a joint letter submitted to the UN chief that refers to his landmark August 8, 2019 statement that the Kashmir issue has to be resolved under the UN Charter and the applicable UN Security Council resolutions.
“For over 75 years, the people of Jammu & Kashmir have been peacefully struggling for their right to self-determination through a fair and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the U.N.”, the letter said, while pointing out that India systematically enacted laws, like Domicile Law, to integrate Kashmir into its territory. These laws, according to the leaders, are designed to change the demography of Kashmir which are in violations of 18 substantives resolutions adopted by the Security Council.
“India’s refusal to implement the United Nations resolutions calling for such a plebiscite is at the heart of the problem. It is a problem that does, indeed, have a solution. That solution can be peaceful, but unfortunately the Government of India has chosen the path of indiscriminate murder and intimidation instead of negotiations and peaceful resolution to the conflict.”
The U.N., the letter said, has the ability to change this miscarriage of justice and to put an end to the violence, adding that it was not enough to simply keep a record of cease-fire violations. Too many have died, it said, noting that the number of deaths exceeds 100,000.
“Mohammad Yasin Malik, the most revered and respected leader of Kashmir, is facing a life and death situation. Shabir Ahmed Shah has spent 36 years in prison. Khurram Parvez, who according to TIME is one of the top 100 influential persons of 2022, has been charged under Unlawful Activity Prevention Act, Masarat Alam’s Public Safety Act (PSA) was quashed 35 times, but is still in Jail, Aasia Andrabi was slapped with PSA 20 times and has been transferred to Tihar Jail, India. There are hundreds of political prisoners who deserve your attention and intervention to be released unconditionally and without a delay.”
