ISLAMABAD - The joint session of the parliament Thursday unanimously passed a resolution by rejecting emphatically India’s illegal and unilateral actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir since 5th August 2019.

The resolution, moved by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, asked India to stop its illegal measures to change demographic structure of the occupied territory and withdraw 900,000 troops from the occupied territory.

The Majlis-e-Shoora called upon the international community to use all means at its disposal to hold India accountable for its illegal and unilateral actions and human rights violations against Kashmiri people.

It urged the international community to pressurize India to adhere to its international human rights obligations and allow international media and Independent Observers to enter into the Indian Illegal Occupied Jammu and Kashmir to investigate and examine the excessive use of force and violence against Kashmiri people.

The resolution said that Kashmir was an internationally recognized dispute and longest outstanding issue on the agenda of UN Security Council, categorically stating that illegal steps could not alter the disputed status of the territory. Reiterating Pakistan’s full support to Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for right to self-determination, the Parliament demanded the Indian government to immediately lift military siege in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and rescind the illegal and unilateral actions of 5th August 2019. The resolution demanded India to stop its illegal measures to change demographic structure of the occupied territory. It also called upon India to withdraw nine hundred thousand troops from the territory and give Kashmiri their inalienable right to self-determination.

The resolution passed by the Parliament underscored that Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognized dispute and longest outstanding item on the agenda of the UNSC and categorically stated that illegal Indian steps did not and could not alter its disputed status.

The joint session of the Parliament demanded India to remove restrictions on media, Internet, movement and peaceful assembly in the Occupied Territory, besides, repealing the draconian law.

Parliament in its resolution stressed the BJP government’s threatening statements, belligerent rhetoric and irresponsible posture pose a grave threat to peace and stability in South Asia.

It underscored that BJP-RSS dispensation was driven by a toxic mix of extremist ideology and hegemonic designs which were a threat to Kashmiris under its occupation and its minorities besides being a threat to peace and stability of the region.

The resolution said there was a possibility that India might resort to a false flag operation or ill-conceived misadventure against Pakistan, reaffirming the resolve of the entire Pakistani nation and armed forces to thwart any action effectively and resolutely.

It also welcomed the three discussions on the Kashmir dispute at the United Nations Security Council after a gap of fifty-five years.

The resolution castigates BJP government for introducing new domicile rules in IIOJK in the attempt to illegally change the demographic structure of the region to advance its ‘Hindutva’ agenda.

It also reviles the extra-judicial killings of Kashmiri youth in fake “encounters” and “cordon-and-search” operations by the Indian occupation forces as well as forced disappearances and arbitrary arrests and detentions of senior Kashmiri leaders and activists.

It also condemned strongly the refusal by Indian occupation forces to handover mortal remains of the Shuhada to their families for proper burial and burning and looting of Kashmiris’ houses to inflict ‘collective punishment’ on the communities and neighbourhoods.

The resolution also deplored that Indian occupation forces had partially or completely blinded more than 11,000 Kashmiri civilians, including women and children, through the deliberate use of pellet gun shots which represented a grave violation of international law and fundamental Human Rights.

The Parliament denounced the fact that to divert attention from grave Human Rights Violations (HRVs) in IIOJK, the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) had been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons committing more than 1,800 ceasefire violations this year alone, resulting in 14 shahadats and serious injuries to 138 innocent civilians.

The resolution also appreciated strong statements of support on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute from world leaders, reaffirming the “disputed” nature of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the international community, in particular, the United Nations’ responsibility in seeking a resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC Resolutions.

The resolution also commended the three discussions on the Jammu & Kashmir dispute in the UNSC after a gap of more than 55 years; the two reports on the issue by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); the consistent support demonstrated by the OIC and its human rights body IPHRC; and the convening of three meetings of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir.

The Parliament also applauded several world Parliaments, international human rights organizations as well as the international media, which had been vocal in their condemnation of the ongoing military siege, communications blockade and curfew imposed by the Indian occupation forces in IIOJK.

It also appreciated the visits to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) by the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Kashmir Group (APPKG) and the OIC Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Kashmir.

The Parliament also reaffirmed the resolution of the people and the armed forces of Pakistan to thwart any act of aggression resolutely and effectively.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, responding to the concerns raised by opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif, said that Pakistan had raised the Kashmir issue in a well and effective manner. “Even Indian leaders are criticizing the policies of Modi,” he said, the struggle of Kashmir people would not go wasted. He offered opposition to give their proposal for Kashmir issue.

Opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif lauded the struggle of Kashmiri people. He condemned the Modi’s one-sided step on 5August. He said that the government should also come up with some practical step on Kashmir issue. “We haven’t seen silence on this important issue before,” he said, the resolutions passed in United Nations about Kashmir should be implemented.

PPP-P’s chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the government should take practical measures on the issue of Kashmir. “Modi had crossed the red line on August 5 by his action, government should have given effective response on it,” he said.