File photo of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Aamir Qureshi—AFP
Ministry of Human Rights marks Kashmiris Right to Self-Determination Day by urging global community to push India to release Aasiya Andrabi
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday reaffirmed Pakistan’s unequivocal support for the Kashmiri people in their freedom from “the tyranny of one of the ruthless, inhumane and illegal occupation in modern history.”
In a posting on Twitter to mark Jan. 5, which is observed as Kashmiris Right to Self-Determination Day, he noted that the U.N. had, on Jan. 5, 1949, guaranteed the right to self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir through a plebiscite. “We observe this day as a reminder to the U.N. and its member states of their unfulfilled commitment to the Kashmiri people,” he said.
“Despite suffering 73 years of brutal Indian occupation, generation after generation of the Kashmiri people remain steadfast in the demand for their inalienable right to self-determination as guaranteed to them under the U.N. Charter and by the U.N. Security Council,” he said, and reiterated Pakistan’s support to the Kashmiri people in their freedom struggle.
“We call on the international community to take action against the well-documented human rights violations being committed with impunity by Indian occupation forces against innocent Kashmiri men, women and children; and to ensure Kashmiris get their right to self-determination,” he added.
In a subsequent press statement, Khan noted that around 900,000 occupation forces had turned Jammu and Kashmir into the largest militarized zone in the world. “Post-Aug. 5, 2019, India unleashed a new reign of terror in the region, maintaining an inhuman military siege, perpetrating egregious violations of human rights of innocent people, especially women, children and the elderly with unprecedented impunity, and seeking to illegally change the demographic structure of the occupied territory,” he said.
Demands for release
Separately, Federal Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari used a press conference to urge the international community to take notice of human rights violations in India-held Kashmir. Flanked by relatives of Kashmiri freedom fighter Aasiya Andrabi, who has been detained by Indian security forces, she urged the U.N., Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as women rights organizations, to address the issue.
According to Mazari, Andrabi, Fehmida Sufi and Naheeda Nasreen are imprisoned in Delhi’s Tihar jail, adding that this was a violation of Article 49 of the U.N.’s Charter. Stressing that India was not permitted to detain Kashmiris outside of the valley, she alleged India was committing a war crime under Article 82 (2b, VIII) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), read with Article 143 of Geneva Convention IV.