Muzaffarabad: President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday said the resolution of Kashmir dispute as per the pledges of United Nations was the “only option” to ensure peace in South Asia and asked New Delhi India to stop unabated acts of genocide and demographic changes in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
“Pakistan has a clear message for India; Our relations cannot be improved without the resolution of Kashmir issue in accordance with the resolutions of UN Security Council,” he said in his address to the special session of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Kashmir Solidarity Day.
AJK President Sardar Masood Khan and PM Raja Farooq Haider also attended the session held in the AJK capital.
President Alvi expressed Pakistan’s strong commitment for the rights of Kashmiris; saying the country’s undeterred stance on Kashmir remained the same for the last 73 years, no matter which government was in power.
“This (Kashmir) is not a matter of territory, but the matter of principle,” he said, adding Pakistan wanted to take the Kashmir dispute towards its logical end, but only in line with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
He mentioned that the UNSC in its several resolutions had emphasized on holding a free and fair plebiscite in Kashmir giving the Kashmiris an opportunity to decide about their destiny by exercising their right to self-determination.
President Alvi said Pakistan had always raised voice against the atrocities faced by Kashmiris and also for the rights of Muslims living under difficult conditions in India.
He said both the government and the opposition in Pakistan, setting aside their political differences, always held a same stance on Kashmir. “The ultimate direction in this regard is based on national unity.”
He vowed that any further steps with regard to Kashmir would be made in consultation with the stakeholders, particularly the people of Kashmir.
The president said Pakistan at times asked India to hold discussions on all outstanding issues, including Kashmir. He, however, regretted that no positive response was received.
He recalled the offer of Prime Minister Imran Khan that Pakistan was ready to take two steps forward if India came to the negotiation table and showed intent to resolve the longstanding issues.
He urged India to open its occupied territory for the international observers and media and let them monitor the ongoing worsening situation of human rights.
He said the Kashmiri people had to face the horrendous acts of Indian security forces in the shape of pellet gun attacks that left several including women and children blind for life-time.
The Indian oppression, he said, was on rise in the IIOJK as its forces were subjecting the youth to torture, illegal detentions and fake encounters.
“These are the same indicators as of Hitler’s era, where the life was made miserable for an ethnic community by setting up genocide camps and inflicting upon them economic hardships,” he added.
President Alvi said India was committing a crime by changing the demographics of IIOJK as it had revoked Articles 370 and 35-A of its constitution.
“India must be aware that by isolating the Kashmiris, it will not succeed in its heinous designs to erase their identity,” he said, adding the journey of Kashmiris filled with sacrifices could not be wiped out from the annals of history.
The Kashmiris, he said, would not inch back from their struggle and would also never forget the horrors committed by Indian security forces in the shape of massive killings and gang-rapes of women.
He said Pakistan would continue to highlight the stories of oppression and cruelty in the IIOJK at international forums, which India was trying to hide by putting a curb on the Internet and broadband communication.
“We have to show the visual evidence of Indian atrocities to the world to wake up their conscience,” he said, calling upon the United Nations and other world watchdogs to take notice of the humanitarian crisis in IIOJK.
The President said India was involved in carrying out terrorist activities inside Pakistan and also waged a continuous fake media war against it as recently exposed through the findings of EU DisInfoLab.
The nefarious designs of incumbent Indian government pursuing the Hindutva ideology were revealed as it used the Pulwama attack for electoral victory, he added.
He mentioned that India also failed to achieve its target in the airstrike in Pakistan’s Balakot area and warned that such belligerent attitude could lead to dangerous situation between the two nuclear armed states.
“Pakistan has always given peace a chance, however India is repeatedly making mistakes through acts of irresponsible aggression,” he said.
Comprised of ‘artificial unity of different states’, he said, India “must not take any risk of hostility towards its neighbours”.
The president said Pakistan would continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to the Kashmiris in their right to self-determination.
“Pakistan will always stand with the Kashmiris and never let leave them alone in their fight against oppression,” he said