As is the case every year, Kashmir Day is once again being observed by the people of Pakistan in a show of solidarity with the oppressed people of the valley. Rallies and seminars are also being held around the world. The Kashmir issue has remained unresolved for the past 72 years and no solution seems to be in sight despite the pomp and circumstance.
The incumbent government of Pakistan as per its announced foreign policy has made the Kashmir issue a top priority. Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi are highlighting the Indian brutalities at every accessible forum. The premier has not only offered talks to India for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute but has also frequently informed the international community about India’s state terrorism in occupied Kashmir.
After India revoked the special status of Kashmir in their constitution on August 5th, 2019, the Indian Army imposed a lock-down and continues its brutalities in the occupied valley. A curfew has been in place for the past 7 months; people are suffering from a shortage of food and lack of health facilities. India is openly violating all international laws and gleefully carrying out a genocide in occupied Kashmir as per the fascist ideology of Modi’s beloved RSS.
Due to a lack of the international community’s attention towards the Kashmir issue, the Indian Army is continuously violating the rights of the Kashmiris. US President Donald Trump also offered mediation on the Kashmir issue during PM Imran’s visit, but India, as usual, rejected the offer and said that Kashmir is a bi-lateral concern and thus must be resolved without intervention of a third party.
In 1948, Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru took the Kashmir issue to the United Nations where a right for self-determination to the Kashmiri people was promised. Yet years later the international peacekeeping body remains deaf and blind to the pain of the people in the occupied valley. It is the responsibility of the UN and the international community to take the necessary steps to ensure the resolution of the Kashmir problem and play a role in preventing war between two nuclear powered countries.
The Kashmir Solidarity Day is a reminder to the world of their silence in the face of injustice and a promise to the oppressed Kashmiris that they are not alone; Pakistan is and always will be standing with them. The Kashmir dispute will never be resolved through a single day holiday, strikes or processions but it is better than deliberate and passive silence on the matter.
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