Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and the world over will observe the 5th January tomorrow as the Right to Self-Determination Day with the pledge to continue their struggle till they achieve this internationally-acknowledged inalienable right.
According to Kashmir Media, call for observance of the day has been given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. The day will be marked by various activities including protest demonstrations, rallies, seminars and conferences in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan and in all major capitals of the world to remind the UN that it must implement its relevant resolutions to settle the Kashmir dispute to save the Kashmiris from the Indian brutalities.
It was on 5th January in 1949 when the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution supporting the Kashmiris’ right to decide their future by themselves under a UN-supervised plebiscite. This resolution provides the base for settlement of the lingering dispute, which has become a nuclear flashpoint in South Asia. However, India’s continued intransigent attitude had been an impediment in the way of achieving this objective. Unfortunately, the World Body has failed to implement its resolutions, resulting in the continued sufferings of the Kashmiri people.
The principles laid down in the communications of India and Pakistan with the UNCIP (United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan) on Kashmir dated December 23 and December 25 and adopted by the Commission, are supplementary to the Commission’s Resolution of August 13, 1948. Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Czechoslovakia and the US were members of the commission. The Resolution was unanimously adopted by the UNCIP on January 05, 1949. Earlier, a ceasefire came into effect between Pakistan and India one minute before midnight of first January 1949, following the agreement arrived at through the Commission’s resolution of 13th August 1948.
