From Sardar Shahab
LONDON: Pakistan High Commissioner to United Kingdom (UK), Mohammad Nafees Zakaria has called upon the United Nations Security Council to fulfill its responsibility and commitment of granting the right to self-determination to the Kashmiris according to its resolutions. He also urged them of taking punitive action against India and its brutal occupation forces in occupied Kashmir for their atrocities and gross violation of human rights on defenceless people of Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK). He stated this while addressing a big gathering of British Pakistani and Kashmiri Diaspora here at Pakistan High Commission on Monday evening. The High Commission organised an event to observe the Right to Self-Determination Day for the People of Jammu and Kashmir. A large number of Pakistani and Kashmiri Diaspora as well as members of civil society organizations and media attended the event. The participants of the event on the occasion expressed solidarity with the Kashmiris and supported their just cause of self-determination as promised in the relevant UN resolutions. On January 5 every year, Kashmiris around the world observe Right to Self-Determination Day. On this day in 1949, the United Nations gave commitment to the people of Kashmir that the dispute would be decided through a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices. Through this resolution, the United Nations affirmed its support for the realization of the inalienable right to self-determination of the Kashmiris. The occasion was used to display photos depicting Indian atrocities against defenseless Kashmiris of Indian occupied Kashmir. The photos reminded the visitors of an unending trail of torture and atrocities, which have been duly documented by the international organisations and INGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, IPHRC, IPTK, JKCHR, and international media, etc. High Commissioner Mohammad Nafees Zakaria addressed the attendees and talked to UK based Pakistani media. He briefed on the background of the Kashmir dispute, and the human tragedy that has resulted from the non-implementation of the UNSC Resolutions. Nafees Zakaria gave a detailed account of the sufferings of the Kashmiris living in IOK. He urged the international community’s immediate intervention to end bloodshed of the Kashmiris and delivery of justice to the victims. The High Commissioner said it has been over five months that the people of Indian occupied Kashmir are under Indian siege, with reports of their killings, illegal detentions of tens of thousands, enforced disappearances.
