Pakistan urged to raise Kashmir dispute forcefully at UNGA
DFP hopes PM Shehbaz will highlight plight of Kashmiri political prisoners
Srinagar: Democratic Freedom Party has appealed to Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar to raise the Jammu and Kashmir dispute forcefully and effectively during their visit to the United States and at the United Nations General Assembly, with particular attention to the prevailing grave situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The DFP in a statement stressed that the Kashmir issue is not merely a regional or bilateral matter, but a longstanding dispute linked to United Nations resolutions and international law. It emphasized that, alongside the right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination, the prevailing human rights situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir must also be clearly presented before the international community.
The DFP urged that the United Nations General Assembly and the OIC Contact Group should be apprised of the continued arrests and prolonged detention of Kashmiri political prisoners, legal proceedings, confiscation and demolition of properties, and the detention of thousands of Kashmiri youth.
The statement said that Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Yasin Malik, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Aasiya Andrabi, Qasim Faktoo, Dr. Hamid Fayaz, Naeem Ahmed Khan, Zafar Akbar Butt, and other Kashmiri political leaders and activists, along with thousands of others, have been enduring prolonged imprisonment.
Some prisoners have been languishing in jails for nearly forty, thirty and twenty years, with the nearly four-decade-long imprisonment of Shbabir Ahmed Shah being a prominent example.
It was further stated that, alongside continued arrests of political leaders and youth, Kashmiri families are facing severe hardships as a result of raids, arrests, confiscation of properties, and demolition of houses.
The DFP called upon the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister not to confine discussion to a general reference to the Kashmir issue, but to specifically highlight before the international community the prolonged detention of Kashmiri political leadership and political prisoners, human rights violations, confiscation and demolition of properties, and the hardships faced by the people of Kashmir, supported by concrete facts and evidence.
It was also stressed that Pakistan should utilize all available diplomatic forums, including the United Nations General Assembly, relevant forums of the Security Council and the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, to urge the international community to fulfill its responsibilities concerning the fundamental rights and right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
