ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Pakistan has said that the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) freely enjoy their civil and political rights in response to Indian propaganda over recent protests in AJK.
“People of AJK actively participate in shaping their democratic future,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a press release on Friday.
The FO said that Pakistan remains “firmly committed to upholding their dignity, safeguarding their rights, including the right to peaceful assembly and protest, respecting their sentiments, and advancing their socio-economic development.”
“This commitment reflects not only our constitutional responsibility but also our enduring moral obligation to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
In contrast, the foreign office said, people in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) continue to face a grim reality under occupation.
“The use of brute force, denial of fundamental freedoms, and systematic and grave human rights violations have become the hallmark of India’s state-sponsored terrorism against the innocent Kashmiri people to suppress their just struggle.”
The press release added that Indian efforts to silence dissent, demographic engineering, and the denial of civil liberties underscore the severity of the situation.
“Rather than casting unwarranted aspersions on AJK, India must reckon with its obligations under international law and the UN Charter.”
“India must respect the inalienable rights of the Kashmiri people, most importantly their fundamental right to self-determination, as enshrined in the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the FO stressed.
“Pakistan believes that the path to lasting peace and stability in South Asia lies in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute,” it added.
