LAHORE: Students from different universities across Lahore staged a protest demonstration outside the Lahore Press Club to express solidarity with the people of Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK) who have been living under curfew imposed by the Indian government on August 5.
Organized by the Jammu Kashmir Student Council, demonstrators called on the international community to help resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Addressing protestors, student leaders said that the world must ensure that Kashmiris are given their basic right of self-determination as stated under numerous UN resolutions.
A large number of Kashmiri students also participated in the demonstration.
IOK has been under curfew with complete media and communication blackouts since the Indian government unconstitutionally revoked its special autonomous status through a presidential order on August 5.
Addressing the gathering, Kashmir Student Council president Mansoor Kataria said that the state under Indian occupation had been converted into prison since August 5, 2019.
He called on the United Nations to send fact finding missions in the occupied territory to investigate violations.
He said the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has an obligation to ensure full implementation of its relevant resolutions, stipulating a free and fair plebiscite, and enabling the Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination.
Mansoor Kataria said that the purpose of such demonstrations was to awaken the world’s conscience about atrocities being committed by the Indian forces against unarmed Kashmiri civilians.
He said that the situation in Kashmir is a human rights issue and everyone must unite to give voice to Kashmiris.
In a statement, the Student Council said that the international community had the moral and political responsibility to immediately bring to an end the humanitarian nightmare in IOK where people are suffering due to continuous denial of their fundamental rights.
