Kashmir deserves justice, not silence — UN must act now
Humayun Aziz Sandeela
Seventy-six years after the people of Jammu and Kashmir were promised the right to determine their political future through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations, the promise remains broken — crushed under the weight of Indian intransigence, global apathy, and militarized control. Despite more than a dozen binding resolutions passed by the UN Security Council — including Resolutions 47 (1948), 91 (1951), and 122 (1957) — reaffirming the right of Kashmiris to self-determination, India has persistently defied international consensus and blocked every avenue toward a democratic resolution of the dispute.
India’s decision on August 5, 2019, to abrogate Articles 370 and 35A of its Constitution, which granted Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir limited autonomy and protection for local demography, dealt a deathblow to the already beleaguered idea of justice. With one stroke of legislative pen — absent Kashmiri consent, and in clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions — New Delhi unilaterally erased Kashmir’s special status and integrated it as a federal territory. This wasn’t reform; it was annexation disguised as legislation. Its landmark Resolution 47 (1948) decreed that “the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan should be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite.”
The Council explicitly outlined a demilitarization process and called for a Plebiscite Administrator—a neutral UN officer to oversee fair electoral conditions.
This stance was reaffirmed in Resolution 91 (1951), which stated that “the final disposition of the State… 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.”
It went further, mandating the demilitarization of Kashmir to ensure that plebiscite conditions could be met.
In Resolution 122 (1957), the Council reiterated this pledge: “the final disposition… will be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through…a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.”
Even as the world watched in silence, India doubled down on its hegemony. Tens of thousands of troops were rushed into the region. A total lockdown ensued. The internet was snapped, political leaders imprisoned, the press censored. This unprecedented clampdown — labelled the longest communications blackout in a democracy — was not security; it was occupation under a digital veil. Meanwhile, settler-colonial policies such as the grant of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris and alterations in land ownership laws reinforced fears of demographic engineering in the Muslim-majority valley.
Against this backdrop, Pakistan continues to press the case for Kashmir at international forums, grounding its position in the UN Charter and international law. Speaking at the UN Headquarters in New York as Pakistan assumed the presidency of the Security Council for the month of July, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad reiterated Islamabad’s unwavering position: the dispute must be resolved in line with the Security Council’s own resolutions. “It is time this issue be addressed,” he declared firmly, “and I would say this is not only a responsibility of Pakistan — it’s the responsibility of the Security Council itself, and particularly the permanent members, to see that they take certain steps to actually get their own resolutions implemented.”
Press Release
Pakistan Assumes UNSC Presidency for July 2025 with Focus on Multilateralism, Dispute Resolution, and Regional Cooperation
United Nations, July 01, 2025: Pakistan today assumed the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of July 2025.… pic.twitter.com/HWpbuP1l2X
— Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN (@PakistanUN_NY) July 1, 2025
Ambassador Ahmad’s statement comes not in isolation, but as a continuation of Pakistan’s diplomatic engagement at the global stage. Whether at the UN General Assembly, OIC platforms, or during bilateral engagements, Islamabad has persistently reminded the world that the denial of plebiscite to Kashmiris is not merely a political failure — it is a moral catastrophe.
The time for rhetorical concern is long gone. What is needed now is action — honest and courageous. The UN Security Council must wake up to its obligations. It must reassert its relevance by enforcing the very resolutions it passed in the name of international justice. Failure to do so not only emboldens authoritarian actors, but also undermines the foundational principles of the UN system itself.
Kashmir is not an internal matter of India. It is a recognized international dispute under Chapter VI of the UN Charter. The right to self-determination is not a privilege granted by a state, but a right guaranteed by international law — the same law that underpins global peace and order. The Security Council must revisit its legacy in Kashmir not as an archival footnote, but as a living commitment that has been left unfulfilled.
As the suffering of Kashmiris grows — as their identity, land, and voices are systematically erased — the silence of the world becomes more deafening, more complicit. The stakes are no longer just regional peace. The stakes are global credibility.
The world must speak. And more importantly, the world must act.
The Kashmir conflict cannot and should not be allowed to fade into diplomatic oblivion. The future of over 14 million Kashmiris hangs in the balance. If the UN is to remain a beacon of hope for oppressed peoples around the world, it must uphold its promise to Kashmir — now more than ever.
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