The COAS later visited troops deployed on the front lines along Line of Control (LOC) in Sarian Sector         Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar addressing the special session of the AJK Legislative assembly to commemorate Kashmir Solidarity Day in Muzaffarabad on February 5, 2024. — PID

RAWALPINDI/MUZAFFARABAD/ISLAMABAD: The Kashmir Solidarity Day was observed across Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Monday to underscore India’s highhandedness and gross violation on human rights in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and expressed solidarity with the people of IIOJ&K in their struggle for realization of their right to self-determination.

Addressing AJK Legislative Assembly on Monday, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said that India was a terrorist state, which had been committing the worst atrocities and brutalities against the innocent people of IIOJ&K for decade.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir reiterated that any aggression or violation of territorial sovereignty of Pakistan will be responded with full national resolve and military might. The civil and military leadership said the brewing humanitarian and security crises in the IIOJ&K seriously threatens regional peace and stability.

Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, AJK prime minister and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir visited Muzaffarabad on eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day on Monday.

The COAS later visited troops deployed on the front lines along Line of Control (LOC) in Sarian Sector. “Pakistan Army is well versed with the full threat spectrum and is perpetually ready to respond effectively,” the COAS said. Addressing troops, the COAS also mentioned the Indian state sponsored terrorism in Pakistan which now extended to heinous targeting of individual Pakistani citizens on our soil. “Such callous disregard for international law and norms of international system was becoming a routine occurrence and India was now being called out openly by many countries in the world, exposing her sham credentials, “ COAS concluded, adding that Pakistan would continue to expose all such attempts and ensure the security of its citizens.

Upon arrival at Jammu and Kashmir Monument Muzaffarabad, PM Kakar, AJK PM and COAS laid floral wreath at Martyrs’ Monument and paid rich tribute to the supreme sacrifices of Shuhada.

General Asim Munir was briefed about the latest situation along the LOC and appreciated the operational readiness, high morale and effective response of troops to Indian CFVs.

Earlier on arrival, COAS was received by Commander Rawalpindi Corps.

Meanwhile, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Monday said that India was a terrorist state, which had been committing the worst atrocities and brutalities against the innocent people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJ&K) for decades.

The world was, however, silently watching the Indian state terrorism against the Kashmiris, he regretted while addressing the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day.

The prime minister said for last many years, India was presenting a false narrative and trying to weaken the indigenous movement of the Kashmiris for freedom by wrongly labeling them as terrorists. There was a clear difference between terrorism and the people’s struggle for independence, he added.

PM Kakar said that the Indian leadership was also claiming that Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir were part of their country. “On this day, I make it clear that that India should not have any such illusions. We believe in peace and are showing maximum patience and tolerance, but any misadventure in this regard will be forcefully responded.”

He reaffirmed that Pakistan did not want any conflict in the region, however, it was fully capable of strongly retaliating any attack on its soil. India, he said, had for many times tested Pakistan’s capacity, and if still had any desire in that regard then “we are fully ready to show our might”.

He said if India was a true democracy then it should give the people of Kashmir their just right to self-determination, besides restoring all the basic human rights in the IIOJ&K.

PM Kakar said India must also stop the gross violations of human rights in the region along with releasing all the political prisoners. It should also abrogate all the strict emergency laws, besides removing its heavy military presence from the villages and towns of Kashmir. It should allow the Kashmiris to hold peaceful gatherings, he added.

The prime minister said that India must allow unrestricted access to the observers of UN and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), international media and human rights organizations to IIOJ&K to get first-hand information about the situation there; and investigate and report human rights violations.

He said that India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 usurping the special status of the IIOJ&K were a blatant violation of international laws, including the UN Charter, 4th Geneva Convention and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

The prime minister said that Pakistan had consistently maintained that a lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was possible only in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and as per the wishes of Kashmiri people. Pakistan would continue its moral, diplomatic and political support for the just cause, he vowed.

However, he added, India over the last 76 years had carried out a relentless campaign to intimidate and suppress the IIOJ&K people as evident from extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions and custodial torture.

Meanwhile, the president, the prime minister and the foreign minister, in their special messages on the occasion, have renewed Pakistan’s unstinting moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmir cause. The foreign minister has addressed letters to the presidents of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the OIC Secretary General to update them on the latest developments in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K).

In these letters, the foreign minister has emphasized the need to implement the relevant Security Council resolutions so that the people of Jammu and Kashmir could determine their future through a fair and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices. He has also urged the UN and OIC leadership to play their role in improving the human rights situation in IIOJ&K and for release of Kashmiri political prisoners and dissenters.

In the run up to the Kashmir Solidarity Day, a briefing was organized for Islamabad-based diplomats to apprise them of the situation in IIOJ&K.

A ‘Solidarity Day Walk’ was held on the Constitution Avenue, earlier today, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs up to the Parliament Building. The walk was led by the ministers for Information, Privatization, Culture, and Religious Affairs. The officers and staff members of the Ministry participated in the walk, alongside school children and people from different walks of life.

A wide range of other activities, including seminars, webinars, panel discussions and photo exhibitions are being organized throughout the country, and at Pakistan’s diplomatic missions around the world.