Freedom movement of Kashmiris: Speakers for empowering AJK, G-B regions to set up ‘real base camp’

ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a conference have called for empowering Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) regions to establish a ‘‘real base camp’’ for the freedom movement of Kashmir.

Speaking at National Kashmir Conference, organised by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan and attended by political, social and religious leaders from Pakistan, AJK, and G-B, along with experts, media professionals, and representatives of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), participants deliberated on the situation in India’s Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The conference was presided over by Hafiz Naeemur Rahman, Ameer JI Pakistan. They said that “Jammu and Kashmir dispute is neither a land nor a dispute between two countries. The freedom of Jammu and Kashmir, the right to self-determination in the light of UN resolutions and the immediate end to human rights violations are the points of our position and narrative.”

The people of Jammu and Kashmir were promised the right to self-determination, yet even after more than seven decades, they have not been given the opportunity to vote in a UN-conducted plebiscite. The failure of the United Nations to enforce its resolutions, coupled with India’s intransigence, has directly contributed to instability in South Asia, leading to repeated military conflicts.

Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir, while millions have been injured and displaced. The toll on civilian infrastructure and human lives is incalculable. It is no surprise that the people of Jammu and Kashmir, like those of Palestine, continue to resist their illegal occupation. According to international law, they have every right to oppose foreign occupation and oppression.

The conference expressed grave concern over the illegal Indian moves, including steps to change the disputed status of the occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir as recognised by the United Nations and altering the demographics by amending laws while allowing settlements of lakhs of ex-servicemen and RSS terrorists through the continuous changes in domicile laws. We consider these steps a serious violation of international laws and fundamental human rights. The conference condemns the detention of political and social leadership, restrictions on journalists, media workers, and civil society, arrests of youth in the name of search operations, custodial killings, confiscation of properties, and other means of coercion and regards these as serious acts of state terrorism.

The conference paid tribute to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for their continuous struggle, sacrifices, steadfastness, and unwavering commitment to the freedom movement despite all the brutal tactics of Indian colonialism and pays tribute to them by calling them the beacon of light for the nation and humanity.

The conference reaffirmed the Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to standing by the struggling and suffering Kashmiri brothers and sisters, extending sincere support and patronage on every front until the people of Jammu and Kashmir achieve their final goal of freedom.

The participants of the conference understand that for a stable and tension-free South Asia: India must be pressured through all means to end its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and abide by international law, the Geneva Conventions, and UN Security Council resolutions.

The pledged right to self-determination must be immediately granted to the people under occupation and rigorously enforced. Justice must be served to the victims of Jammu and Kashmir through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), akin to the Nuremberg trials.

The ongoing settler colonial project and demographic changes must be immediately stopped and reversed. The release of political prisoners, including women, children, and human rights defenders, cannot be left to the arbitrary will of the occupying power.

In the opinion of the conference, the most effective weapon to defeat Indian state terrorism is a constitutionally empowered and resourceful government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which can fulfill the right to represent the Kashmiris at the international level in collaboration with the Hurriyat Conference. In this context, the conference expected the government of Pakistan to make arrangements to make the independent regions of the state, AJK, G-B, more dignified in terms of powers and resources and not to commit any misadventure at this critical juncture of the movement, which may result in harming the national position of Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir at the international level or justifying India’s nefarious actions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025