ISLAMABAD: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference-AJK Convener, Ghulam Muhammad Safi, has strongly rejected the references to Jammu and Kashmir made during the joint press conference of the Indian and Afghan foreign ministers, declaring that the region is not an integral part of India but an internationally recognised disputed territory.
In a statement issued in Islamabad, Safi said that the position reflected in the New Delhi press conference represented a clear violation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, which categorically recognise Jammu and Kashmir as an unresolved dispute. He reminded that the UN resolutions call for a free and impartial plebiscite under UN supervision to determine the future of the territory.
Safi asserted that India’s persistent claim that Kashmir is its internal matter contradicts both historical facts and international law. “India’s claim that Kashmir is its integral part is contrary to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and the commitments made before the United Nations,” he said.
Expressing disappointment over the remarks made by the Afghan foreign minister, Safi said it was “deeply regrettable” that a brotherly Muslim country had chosen to side with India’s narrative. He noted that Afghanistan, having endured years of foreign occupation and internal conflict, should have expressed solidarity with the oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir instead of echoing India’s position.
“The Kashmir freedom movement is not an extremist or territorial conflict but a legitimate and peaceful struggle for the right to self-determination — a right recognised by the United Nations,” he added.
Safi recalled that India has occupied Jammu and Kashmir since 1947, an occupation never accepted by the Kashmiri people. Over the decades, he said, Indian forces have killed hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris, subjected thousands to enforced disappearances, and detained many in Indian prisons under repressive laws.
He accused India of pursuing a systematic plan to change the region’s Muslim-majority identity by settling non-locals in the occupied territory, calling it a violation of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The APHC-AJK Convener urged the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the broader international community to take immediate notice of India’s ongoing human rights violations and demographic engineering in Jammu and Kashmir.
He appealed for global intervention to ensure that the Kashmiri people are granted their UN-recognised right to self-determination and that justice is served in accordance with international law.
