National Assembly adopts resolution on Kashmir on Black Day

The National Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution expressing solidarity with the people of Kashmir on 27 October, observed as Black Day. The resolution says South Asia cannot have lasting peace until the Kashmir dispute is settled fairly.

The resolution was tabled jointly by Minister for Kashmir Affairs Amir Muqam and Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir. According to the report cited by Daily Pakistan, it says a just and peaceful settlement must rest on UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of Kashmiris themselves.

The resolution paid tribute to generations of Kashmiris who, it said, have shown extraordinary courage and resilience and made enormous sacrifices. It condemned what it described as continuing, systematic human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Lawmakers reaffirmed Pakistan's moral, political and diplomatic support for what the resolution called the Kashmiris' just and legitimate struggle. The Assembly rejected India's unilateral steps of 5 August 2019 and the measures that followed, which it said were meant to change the territory's internationally recognized disputed status and demographic character.

The resolution called on India to end human rights violations in the territory, stop efforts to alter its demographic makeup, release jailed Kashmiri leaders, and allow international human rights organizations and independent observers unhindered access.

It urged the international community, the United Nations in particular, to keep its commitments to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, take concrete steps to implement Security Council resolutions, and hold India accountable. The House said Kashmir's final status must be decided in line with those resolutions and the freely expressed will of its people.

Speaking in the House, Amir Muqam said India has oppressed Kashmiris for about 80 years and that Kashmiris have not moved back from their position. He also said thousands of civil society members and students took part in a solidarity event in Islamabad the same day. The Assembly also urged the government to keep raising the issue at the UN, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and other forums, and to keep advocating the right to self-determination.