By Our Staffer
ISLAMABAD:Pakistan on Monday categorically rejected the judgment announced by the Supreme Court of India on the status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), terming it “another manifestation of the pliant judiciary under India’s ruling dispensation”.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani at a press conference held here at the Ministry of Jammu and Kashmir termed Jammu and Kashmir an “internationally-recognised dispute which remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council for over seven decades.”
Back in August 2019, Indian government led by Narendra Modi in a unilateral move stripped the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir of its special status by abrogating Article 370 and 35-A of the constitution. The Article 370 – a constitutional provision – granted semi-autonomous status to the Muslim-majority region.
Jilani said the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir was to be made in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and as per aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
“India has no right to make unilateral decisions on the status of this disputed territory against the will of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan.”
The foreign minister said, “Pakistan does not acknowledge the supremacy of the Indian constitution over Jammu and Kashmir.” “Any process, subservient to the Indian Constitution, carries no legal significance.”
He said India could not renounce its international obligations under the pretext of domestic legislations and judicial verdicts. India’s plans to annex IIOJK are bound to fail, he added.
Jilani said, “Judicial endorsement of India’s unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019 is a travesty of justice, based on distorted historical and legal arguments.”
He said Indian Supreme Court’s verdict failed to recognise the internationally-recognised disputed nature of Jammu and Kashmir.
“It further fails to cater to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, who have already rejected India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019,” he added.
Jilani emphasised that restoration of statehood, conduct of state assembly elections or similar steps could not serve as a substitute to the grant of the right to self-determination to the Kashmiri people.
“The judgment cannot distract the international community’s attention from the gross and systematic human rights violations being perpetrated in IIOJK.”
The caretaker minister said India’s unilateral and illegal measures since August 5, 2019, had been aimed at changing the demographic structure and political landscape of the IIOJK, in a flagrant violation of international law and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, especially resolution 122 (1957).
“These remain a matter of grave concern for Pakistan as their ultimate goal is to convert the Kashmiris into a disempowered community in their own land,” he observed, adding these measures must be rescinded to create an environment for peace and dialogue.
The foreign minister concluded that Pakistan would continue to extend its full political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of IIOJK for the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination.
