By Muhammad Luqman
Pakistan’s government has decided to take the Kashmir dispute with India to Hague-based International Court of Justice, after New Delhi revoked special status for occupied Kashmir earlier this month.
“We have decided to take Kashmir case to the International Court of Justice,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.
“The decision was taken after considering all legal aspects.”
Special Assistant to the Pakistan’s Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan also told reporters following a cabinet meeting that an in-principle approval had been granted by the cabinet to take the issue to the world court.
بھارتی ناانصافیوں اور کشمیریوں پر ظلم کا مقدمہ ہر فورم پر پیش کرتے رہیں گے۔ ہر فورم پر بھارت کو اس کے ظلم و بربریت کا آئینہ دکھائیں گے۔حق خود ارادیت کی جدوجہد میں پاکستان کشمیریوں کے ساتھ ڈٹ کر کھڑا ہے۔ آزادی کی صبح تک کشمیریوں کی سیاسی، سفارتی اور اخلاقی حمایت جاری رہے گی۔
— Firdous Ashiq Awan (@Dr_FirdousPTI) August 20, 2019
She said that the case will be presented with a focus on the violation of human rights and genocide by India in the occupied Kashmir.
A panel of lawyers of international repute would be engaged to pursue the case on behalf of Pakistan at the United Nations’ top court, Awan added.
On August 5, the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped Kashmiris of the special autonomy they had for over seven decades through a rushed presidential order. An indefinite curfew was imposed across occupied Kashmir and elected leaders were put under house arrest.
By repealing Article 370 of the constitution, people from the rest of India will now have the right to acquire property in Kashmir and settle there permanently. Kashmiris as well as critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government see the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also president of the BJP, moved a bill — passed by the Indian parliament — to bifurcate the state into two union territories to be directly ruled by New Delhi.
Pakistan angrily reacted to the decision, expelling India’s ambassador, suspending bilateral trade, and taking the matter to the United Nations Security Council.
The country observed a ‘Black Day’ on Thursday to coincide with India’s independence day celebrations, in solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, meanwhile, has pledged to take up the responsibility of raising voice of the Kashmiri people at every forum of the world. “I will be the ambassador of your cause across the globe,” he said last week.
The premier also questioned the international community’s silence on occupied Kashmir and warned that should ethnic cleansing of Muslims take place in the region, there would be “severe repercussions” in the Muslim world.
