Each year on February 5, Pakistan observes Kashmir Day to reaffirm its solidarity with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). This day is not a ritual of memory alone but a reminder of an unresolved international injustice that has condemned generations of Kashmiris to life under occupation. More than seven decades after the dispute was taken to the UN, the promise made to the Kashmiri people remains unfulfilled. Instead of the right to decide their own future, they have been subjected to repression, fear and a daily struggle for dignity. Life in IIOJK today resembles that of an open-air prison. An overwhelming military presence governs every aspect of civilian life, with streets, neighbourhoods and even homes placed under constant surveillance. Arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions without trial, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings have become grim features of existence. Indian forces have used excessive and indiscriminate force against unarmed civilians, including the notorious deployment of pellet and rubber bullets that have left thousands injured and blinded, many of them children. Curfews, communication blackouts and restrictions on movement are routinely imposed to crush dissent and isolate the population from the outside world. In such an environment, the very act of demanding basic rights is treated as a crime.
The situation worsened dramatically after August 5, 2019, when the Modi government unilaterally revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. This illegal move was followed by an unprecedented crackdown aimed at silencing Kashmiri voices. Political leaders, activists, journalists, lawyers and traders were detained, while lengthy internet shutdowns severed the region from the rest of the world. These actions were not about governance or development, as India claims, but about tightening control and altering the region’s identity through coercion and demographic manipulation. Yet despite these measures, India has failed to break the will of the Kashmiri people, who continue to reject occupation and resist enforced political assimilation.
What is most troubling is the indifference, and at times complicity, of the international community. Strategic calculations, economic interests and geopolitical alignments have too often taken precedence over human rights and international law. The UN Security Council resolutions clearly affirm the right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite. These resolutions have neither expired nor been rendered irrelevant by the passage of time. Ignoring them undermines the very principles on which the international system claims to rest. On Kashmir Day, Pakistan’s message must remain consistent and unequivocal: the suffering of the people of IIOJK cannot be normalised or forgotten. The world must be reminded that peace in South Asia is impossible without a just resolution of the Kashmir dispute. India must be held accountable for its actions – and the Kashmiri people must be allowed to decide their future without fear or force.
