ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party has written a letter to the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, warning that India’s continued military occupation of Jammu and Kashmir constitutes a serious and persistent threat to peace and stability in South Asia.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the letter, signed by DFP Acting President Mehmood Ahmed Saghar, draws the UN attention to the observance of the 79th Black Day on October 27, marking 79 years since India’s illegal and forcible occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.
The party asserted that India’s claim over the territory lacks any legal, moral, or constitutional legitimacy, as Jammu and Kashmir remains a disputed territory under international law whose final status must be determined through a UN-supervised plebiscite.
India’s massive military presence in occupied Kashmir
The letter noted that India’s massive military presence—now nearing one million troops—has transformed the occupied territory into one of the most militarized regions in the world.
It highlighted the Indian government’s ongoing campaign of repression, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, and severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms.
The letter condemned India’s use of draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Public Safety Act (PSA) to silence political activists, journalists, and civil society members, stressing that New Delhi continues to employ colonial-era tactics to suppress the Kashmiri people’s legitimate struggle for freedom.
The DFP maintained that India’s defiance of United Nations resolutions, which were mutually agreed upon by both India and Pakistan, has prolonged the dispute and made South Asia a potential nuclear flashpoint.
It recalled that the recent Pak-India confrontation earlier this year demonstrated the grave dangers posed by India’s intransigence and the international community’s continued inaction.
The letter urged the UN to uphold its moral and institutional responsibility to facilitate a just and lasting resolution of the Kashmir dispute based on the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people.
It is high time, Saghar emphasized, that the United Nations assumes its long-overdue role in holding India accountable for the crimes perpetrated by its forces in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and revives the spirit of the original UN framework to ensure durable peace and justice in the region.”
