OTTAWA: Pakistan’s High Commission in Canada, together with its Consulates General in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, observed Youm-e-Istehsal Kashmir to mark the seventh anniversary of India’s August 5, 2019 actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The event was held to reaffirm Pakistan’s steadfast solidarity with the people of IIOJK following India’s revocation of Articles 370 and 35A, which ended the region’s special constitutional status.
Special messages from the President of Pakistan, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister were read out during the ceremony. Participants also watched a documentary highlighting the human rights situation in IIOJK, while a photo exhibition depicting the impact of the Kashmir dispute on the local population was also displayed.
The event was attended by members of the Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora, academics, community representatives and friends of Kashmir.
Addressing the gathering, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Canada, Muhammad Saleem, said that seven years after the illegal measures of August 5, 2019, the promises of peace, stability and development had yet to be fulfilled.
He said continued restrictions on fundamental freedoms, prolonged detentions, demographic changes and reports of human rights violations in IIOJK remained a matter of serious concern for the international community.
The high commissioner reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised disputed territory and said the issue should be resolved peacefully in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
