On 5th August 2024, the Embassy of Pakistan in Baghdad organized an event to commemorate 'Youm-e-Istehsal' (Day of Exploitation). The aim of the event was to bring attention to various aspects of the Kashmir dispute, including unilateral actions taken by India on 5th August 2019, human rights violations, and ongoing atrocities by the Indian Armed Forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K). Additionally, the event also aimed to reaffirm Pakistan's unwavering commitment and support to the Kashmir cause and the Kashmiri people.

The event was attended by the Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora. The speakers paid tribute to the sacrifices rendered by the Kashmiri people in their struggle for the right to self-determination. While highlighting the grave human rights situation in IIOJ&K, the participants called upon India to stop brutalizing the innocent Kashmiris who have been suffering under its illegal occupation for the last seven decades. They demanded that India should reverse its policy of demographic change, remove draconian laws, restore basic human rights, free all detainees, and lift all restrictions on free movement and communications.  The Speakers also condemned India’s brazen violations of the UN Security Council’s resolutions and called for immediate intervention of the international community to put an end to state repression and holding a fair and impartial plebiscite to determine the will of Kashmiri people in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

Speaking on the occasion, the Ambassador of Pakistan to Iraq, Muhammad Zeeshan Ahmed, emphasized that Jammu & Kashmir was an internationally recognized “disputed” territory, as affirmed by a number of UN Security Council Resolutions. He said that Pakistan’s government and its people remain fully committed to the Kashmir cause. Pakistan will always remain the voice of conscience in the world for the rights of Kashmiri brothers and sisters.  The Ambassador underscored that over and above its seven decades-long occupation and oppression in the IIOJ&K, India revoked Articles 370 and 35-A of the Indian constitution on 5 August 2019 and passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Order, which allows citizens from other states to become permanent residents of the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He said, contrary to Indian claims of bringing development to the Kashmir valley, the real motive remains altering the demographics of the Muslim majority territory in pursuance of the BJP government’s extremist Hindutva ideology.

The Ambassador reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to extend its political, moral, and diplomatic support to the oppressed people of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in their legitimate struggle for the right to self-determination, which the international community promised through several UN Security Council resolutions.

Baghdad

Dated: 5^th August 2024