Pakistan’s permanent representative to United Nations in New York Ambassador Munir Akram in a message on the Right to Self-Determination Day has called for fulfilling the international community’s promise of freedom given to the Kashmiri people.
“Right of Self-Determination Day is a somber reminder that the promise of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir remains unfulfilled to this day,” he said in New York. He said that this promise, enshrined in several UN Security Council resolutions, remained a moral and legal imperative for the international community.
“As the world grapples with pressing challenges, the struggle of Kashmiri people serves as poignant reminder of the importance of upholding international commitments and human dignity,” the ambassador said. “Keeping the promise alive for self-determination requires unwavering global commitment and action.”
On January 5, 1949, the UN resolution mandated that all authorities within the State of Jammu and Kashmir collaborate with the plebiscite administrator to guarantee the basic conditions for free and informed voting by the Kashmiri people, including protection of their fundamental political rights of expression and association.
Dr Imtiaz Hussain, a professor at the George Washington University, also called on the United Nations to give up its ‘negligence’ of the long-standing Kashmir issue and implement its own resolution supporting the Kashmiris’ right to decide their future through a UN-supervised plebiscite. “A plebiscite under UN supervision is the only solution,” he said.
He lamented that the resolution had not been implemented, and events in its aftermath have had a lasting impact on the political and diplomatic discourse surrounding the Kashmir issue. “The region, surrounded by three nuclear powers, remains the most militarized zone in the world, and the potential of nuclear conflagration that could engulf almost half of the world population remain reasonably high,” he warned.
“How long can the world continue to exhibit negligence towards this protracted issue that threatens the world peace,” he asked, pointing out that India continues to unleash tyrannical measures on the Kashmiri people. “We appeal to the world to convey to India that atrocities, oppressive measures and total disregard for international guarantees cannot be further tolerated,” he said.
World Kashmir Awareness Forum President Dr Ghulam Nabi Mir said that peace in Jammu and Kashmir and along with it in entire South Asia will remain a distant dream as long as India refuses to accept its culpability in its mischievous role in defying the implementation of multiple UN Security Council-mandated resolutions for plebiscite.
He said that Kashmir was a historical entity just as India was despite its size and military might; Kashmiris have given more sacrifices for its relative size than the Indians have. “We have had misfortune of being in a bad neighborhood since 1947 when India invaded it. The UN should exert its power, and help Kashmir to exercise its right to a free and fair referendum,” he said.
World Forum for Peace & Justice Chairman Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai said that the January 5, 1949, resolution clearly mandated that all authorities within the State of Jammu and Kashmir collaborate with the plebiscite administrator to guarantee the basic conditions for free and informed voting by the people, including protection of fundamental political rights of expression and association.
He said that the denial of self-determination has brought death, destruction, and devastation to the Kashmiri people. He suggested the grave situation in Kashmir demands that it could be brought to the attention of the UN Security Council. “Any failure to resolve the problem could lead to serious disorders throughout the South Asia and possibly to yet another war between Pakistan and India, with incalculable consequences for the whole world,” he said.
