Muzaffarabad: Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and across the world are observing Right to Self-Determination Day today to remind the international community of its obligations regarding the long-standing Kashmir dispute. The call for observing the day was given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.

According to Radio Pakistan, protests, rallies, seminars, and other programs are being organized at the divisional and district levels across Azad Jammu and Kashmir. In the state capital, Muzaffarabad, the Kashmir Liberation Cell, Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, and the International Forum for Justice have arranged public gatherings and rallies. Participants are peacefully marching towards the United Nations Observer Mission office in Muzaffarabad.

All three radio stations are broadcasting special programs in connection with Right to Self-Determination Day. It was on January 5, 1949, that the United Nations Security Council passed a historic resolution stating that the question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan would be decided through a free and impartial plebiscite.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party has submitted an urgent appeal to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, urging the world body to implement its resolutions recognizing Kashmiris’ inalienable right to self-determination. In a letter, JKDFP Acting President Mehmood Ahmed Saghar highlighted the annual observance of January 5 as the Right to Self-Determination Day and drew attention to the ‘continuing deterioration of the political and human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir, a UN-recognized disputed territory under India’s illegal occupation.’

Referring to the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan Resolution of January 5, 1949, Mehmood Ahmed Saghar stressed that ‘the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be determined in accordance with the will of the people, expressed through a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.