ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that India's illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 are a sad continuation of the murderous intent of the Jammu Massacre aimed at reducing the Muslim majority of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) into a minority.

In his message on the eve marking the Jammu Massacre on Friday, Qureshi said that November 6 marked the darkest day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.

On this day, 73 years ago, he added the Dogra Army backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Indian occupation forces systematically martyred more than 237,000 Muslims in the first massive genocide in the post-World War II period in a premeditated effort to exterminate the Muslim population of the region, and change its demographic structure.

"India's illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 are a sad continuation of the murderous intent of the Jammu massacre since they are also aimed at reducing the Muslim majority of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) into a minority," he said, adding that they represented a blatant violation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the 4th Geneva Convention.

Qureshi asserted that Pakistan would not relent in its support until the Kashmiris realise their legitimate right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions, which call for a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices.

During the past seven decades, he added that Indian occupation forces had tried every possible tool of oppression and violated every single right of the Kashmiri people. Today, the IIOJK is faced with the gravest humanitarian crisis anywhere in the world, he added.

However, history stands witness to the fact that unabated Indian oppression has failed to break the will of the Kashmiri people, Qureshi said, adding that the indomitable spirit and unshakable resolve of the Kashmiri people had only gained in strength as a result of the serious crimes being perpetrated against them by the Indian occupation forces.

"On this day, as we pay profound respect to the memory of the Kashmiri martyrs of the genocide in Jammu, we call upon the world community to commit to never allow such despicable atrocity to take place again," the foreign minister said.

He further stated that the international community must take urgent steps to help address the grave human rights and humanitarian situation in the IIOJK, and urged India to comply with its international obligations with regard to the rights of the Kashmiri people.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020