https://arab.news/gxze7
- Kashmir Solidarity Day is a national holiday in Pakistan commemorated on February 5 each year
- There should be immediate lifting of military siege and communications blockade in Kashmir, PM Khan says
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday called on India to allow humanitarian organizations as well as international media access into the disputed Kashmir valley so they could investigate the human rights situation in the territory.
He said this in his message on Kashmir Solidarity Day, a national holiday marked on February 5 in Pakistan each year.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region has been at the heart of more than 70 years of animosity since the partition of British-ruled India into Muslim Pakistan and majority Hindu India in 1947. Two of the three wars they have fought since have been over Kashmir, which both nations claim in full but rule in part.
Ties have been particularly tense since August 2019 when India revoked the autonomy of its portion of Kashmir, putting in place curfews and communication blockades. In recent months the diplomatic relationship has worsened further as Delhi and Islamabad each ejected half of its neighbor’s diplomats.
“Pakistan reiterates its call on the world community to hold India accountable,” PM Khan said. “India must ... adhere to its international human rights obligations, and honor the commitment to grant to Kashmiris their inalienable right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices.”
“There should be immediate lifting of the military siege and communications blockade … All those arbitrarily arrested and illegally incarcerated should be released,” Khan added. “The international human rights and humanitarian organizations, as well as the international media, should be allowed access to investigate the grave human rights situation in the occupied territory.”