ISLAMABAD: Kashmiris on both sides of Line of Control and the world over observed Right to Self-Determination Day today with the pledge to continue their struggle till achievement of their internationally acknowledged inalienable right.

Call for observance of the day was given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. It was on 5th January in 1949 when the UN Security Council passed a resolution supporting the Kashmiris’ right to decide their future by themselves under a UN-supervised plebiscite.

Over seven decades have lapsed, but no concrete steps have been taken by the UN to implement the resolutions of 13th August 1948 and 5th January 1949. The situation in occupied Kashmir has worsened since August 05, 2019 when the Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government revoked the special status of the territory.

Thousands of Kashmiris including APHC Chairman, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Aasiya Andrabi and Nayeem Ahmed Khan are languishing in Indian jails.

In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Protest demonstrations, rallies, seminars and other programs will be held in all districts to draw world attention toward the sufferings of the Kashmiri people in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

In Muzaffarabad, Hurriyat organizations including Pasban-e-Hurriyathave have arranged rallies at Shaheed Burhan Muzaffarwani Chowk.

The participants of the rallies will march towards the UN Observer Mission Office in Muzaffarabad.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani has urged the international community, especially the United Nations, to play its due role to enable Kashmiris to exercise the right of self-determination as per UN Security Council resolutions.

In his message on the Right to Self-Determination Day, being observed today, for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he also called upon the world to ensure an immediate cessation of human rights violations, and the restoration of the rights and fundamental freedoms of the Kashmiri people.

The Foreign Minister said Pakistan, on its part, will continue to extend its unstinted moral, political and diplomatic support to the struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the realization of their right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.