27th October will always be remembered as the “Black day” when Indian forces illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir commencing the tragic saga of India’s betrayals and broken promises. India has been practicing policies of deceit and deception since then. These views were expressed by Ambassador Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani while addressing a ceremony organized at Pakistan embassy in Kabul to observe 27th October as the “Black day”.
Ambassador Nizamani added that Jammu and Kashmir dispute is one of the oldest unresolved international disputes. It has been on the agenda of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) since 1948. The UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir affirm the right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination. They lay down that “the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.” Unfortunately, these resolutions have not been implemented during the last seven decades and a half. The human rights violations in IIOJK are well-documented by human rights organizations and international bodies, including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. A number of UN Special Rapporteurs have also expressed concerns about different facets of this dismal situation. History bears witness that India’s continued occupation of the large parts of Jammu and Kashmir has threatened regional peace and stability on a number of occasions. Pakistan believes in peaceful co-existence. However, a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, is essential for a lasting peace in the region. Pakistan calls upon the international community to use its influence to convince India to implement fully the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and allow the Kashmiri people to freely exercise their right to self-determination through a UN-supervised plebiscite. Pakistan would continue to extend full moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris in their just struggle against illegal Indian occupation.
On the occasion, messages of President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar were read out and a documentary on Kashmir was also played.
