NEW YORK – The brave people of Kashmir have shown that ‘Right is Might’ and defeated all Indian moves to suppress the reality of a brutal occupation, this was stated by Maleeha Lodhi Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations at a special event held in New York to mark Solidarity Day with the people of occupied Kashmir.
A photo exhibition was also organised showing the barbarity of human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking at the well-attended event, Ambassador Lodhi said that for us every day is a day of solidarity with our Kashmiri brothers and sisters who have launched a heroic struggle against Indian occupation.
“The dark and forbidding night of this brutal oppression”, she said, “is fleeting and will inevitably lead to the dawn of freedom and dignity.” This long night of oppression cannot last in the face of the courage of the people of Kashmir.
She said India had been frustrated in its effort to conceal the reality that Kashmir never was and never will be a part of India.
Briefing the participants about recent steps taken by the government to highlight the Kashmir dispute, Ambassador Lodhi said that during the recent visit of the President of the UN General Assembly to Pakistan the Kashmir issue was forcefully raised in all her meetings with Pakistan ‘s leadership, including by the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister.
Peace in our region, she said, cannot be achieved without a just settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
She also said that Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke with the UN Secretary General in December in the wake of atrocities carried out by Indian forces and called for renewed and sustained efforts by the UN for a just settlement of the dispute.
Pakistan, she said, would continue to expend diplomatic, political and moral support to the legitimate cause of the Kashmiri people.
Ambassador Lodhi also highlighted the landmark report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that detailed systematic violations of human rights in occupied Kashmir. The report, she said, has also been endorsed by the Secretary General of the UN who had termed it as the ‘voice’ of the UN.
The time had come for the report’s recommendation for an independent commission of inquiry to be implemented
The event at the Mission was attended by members of Kashmiri and Pakistani community leaders who also spoke about Indian atrocities in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir and urged the international community to play its role and raise its voice against the grave human rights situation in the occupied territory.
The acting consul general Naeem Iqbal Cheema also read out the message of the President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, while the Prime Minister’s message was read out by Saad Warraich.
The Pakistani members urged members of the community to play their role to raise awareness about the Kashmir dispute. “The people in occupied Kashmir look up to their diaspora communities as their voice of conscience to the international community”.
She said that international public opinion is sympathetic to the Kashmiri cause. “The challenge now is to turn this public goodwill into a political expression of support”, she added.
