Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani says Kashmir internationally recognized dispute n India must fulfil UN resolutions n Judgment cannot distract international community’s attention.

 

ISLAMABAD  -  Pakistan yesterday strongly re­jected the judgment by the Su­preme Court of India regarding the status of Indian Illegally Occu­pied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Speaking at a news conference here, Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani denounced the decision as “another manifestation” of the pliant judiciary under India’s ruling dispensation.

He emphasized that Jammu and Kashmir was an internation­ally recognized dispute on the UN Security Council’s agenda for over seven decades and India must fulfil UN resolutions.

Earlier, the Indian top court upheld the government’s il­legal 2019 decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, also ruling that the dis­puted Muslim-majority territory should regain its state designa­tion with local elections to be held next year.

Four years ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rul­ing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) illegally scrapped Article 370, a constitutional provision that granted special status to the IIO­JK, including the power to have its own constitution, flag and au­tonomy over all matters, except policy areas such as foreign af­fairs and defense.

FM Jilani insisted that any determination on Jammu and Kashmir should align with rel­evant UN Security Council Reso­lutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, dismissing India’s right to make unilateral decisions against their will.

“Pakistan does not acknowl­edge the supremacy of the Indi­an Constitution over Jammu and Kashmir and any process sub­servient to the Indian Constitu­tion holds no legal significance,” he said. He argued India cannot evade its international obliga­tions based on domestic legis­lation and judicial verdicts and New Delhi cannot distract world attention towards the Kashmir issue through such controversial judgments.

FM Jilani contended that India’s attempts to annex IIOJK were destined to fail and criticized the Supreme Court’s endorsement of India’s actions in August 2019 as a distortion of justice.

The verdict, according to him, neglected the internationally recognized disputed nature of the Jammu and Kashmir issue and fails to address the aspira­tions of the Kashmiri people. 

FM Jilani emphasized that mea­sures such as the restoration of statehood or State Assembly elections cannot substitute the right to self-determination for the Kashmiri people.

He highlighted the ongoing hu­man rights violations in IIOJK and condemned India’s unilateral ac­tions since August 2019 for violat­ing international law and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.

The FM urged the internation­al community to focus on the alarming situation and called for the rescinding of these mea­sures to pave the way for peace and dialogue. He affirmed Paki­stan’s continued political, diplo­matic, and moral support for the people of IIOJK in their pursuit of the inalienable right to self-determination.

INDIAN JUDICIARY SUCCUMBED TO THE FASCIST HINDUTVA IDEOLOGY: DR ARIF ALVI

Separately, President Dr Arif Alvi strongly rejected the Indian Supreme Court’s (ISC) decision to uphold the revocation of the spe­cial status of the Indian Illegal­ly Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K). 

He expressed dismay over the decision, saying the Indian judi­ciary had succumbed to the fas­cist Hindutva ideology giving decisions suited to the Indian gov­ernment. In an official statement issued by the presidency, he added that such decisions could not le­gitimize the occupation of IIOJ&K by India as the Jammu and Kash­mir issue was an internationally recognized dispute that remained on the agenda of the UN Security Council for over seven decades.

While condemning the decision, the president said that it was un­fortunate that Indian courts had a history of giving decisions against Muslims as in the cases of Babri Masjid, Samjhauta Express, Hy­derabad Mecca Masjid blast and Naroda Gam massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots etc.

He added that the verdict of the ISC could not change the status of the IIOJ&K.

Dr Alvi said the judgement would further strengthen the re­solve of the people of IIOJ&K in their just struggle against Indian illegal occupation. 

He urged the international com­munity to make India fulfill the pledges made by her to the Kash­miri people in the past.

The president reiterated that the entire Pakistani nation was committed to continue its moral and diplomatic support to Kash­miri brethren till the achievement of their right to self-determina­tion in accordance with the UN Se­curity Council resolutions.

INDIA’S SC UPHOLDS REVOCATION OF OCCUPIED KASHMIR’S AUTONOMY

Earlier, India’s top court upheld on Monday a move by Prime Min­ister Narendra Modi’s government to revoke the limited autonomy of Muslim-majority Kashmir, and or­dered elections within a year.

The 2019 declaration was “a culmination of the process of in­tegration and as such is a val­id exercise of power”, the Su­preme Court said in its verdict. The move was accompanied by the imposition of direct rule from New Delhi, mass arrests, a total lockdown and communications blackout that ran for months.

The removal of Article 370 of the constitution, which enshrined the region’s special status, was challenged by Kashmir’s political parties, the local Bar Association and individual litigants.

The court upheld removing the region’s autonomy while call­ing for Jammu & Kashmir, to be restored to statehood and put on at par with any other Indian state “at the earliest and as soon as possible”. The court also or­dered state elections to take place by September 30, 2024. Security was stepped up across Indian Ille­gally Occupied Jammu and Kash­mir ahead of the verdict, with the deployment of hundreds of sol­diers, paramilitary troops, and po­lice in the main city of Srinagar to thwart any protests. Former Kash­mir chief minister Mehbooba Muf­ti -- whose party was among the litigants in the Supreme Court case -- condemned the ruling as a “death sentence not just for Jam­mu and Kashmir but also for the idea of India”. One of the advocates who argued for the revocation to be ruled unconstitutional -- the Supreme Court held hearings on it for 16 days -- was sanguine.

“Some battles are fought to be lost,” Kapil Sibal posted on X, even before the verdict was read out, saying the court action was in­tended to ensure that “history must record the uncomfortable facts for generations to know”.

“History alone is the final arbi­ter of the moral compass of his­toric decisions,” he added.

Since the suspension of Article 370 the authorities have curbed media freedoms and public pro­tests in a drastic curtailment of civil liberties.