Kashmiris to observe Self-Determination Day tomorrow

Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and across the world will observe the Right to Self-Determination Day tomorrow to remind the international community of its commitment to the Kashmiri people.

The day will be observed on the call of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Protest demonstrations, rallies and seminars will be held in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan and different parts of the world to sensitise the global community about the Kashmir dispute and to highlight the political injustice and oppression faced by Kashmiris under Indian occupation.

It was on January 5, 1949 that the United Nations Security Council adopted a historic resolution affirming that the question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan would be decided through a free and impartial plebiscite.

The January 5, 1949 resolution provides the basis for a peaceful settlement of the lingering dispute, but India’s continued intransigence has remained a major obstacle.

The principles contained in the communications of India and Pakistan with the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) dated December 23 and 25, 1948, and adopted by the Commission, were supplementary to its August 13, 1948 resolution. The UNCIP—comprising representatives from Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Czechoslovakia and the United States—unanimously adopted the January 5, 1949 resolution. A ceasefire between India and Pakistan had come into effect one minute before midnight on January 1, 1949, following the August 13, 1948 resolution.