Jeddah : Saudi Arabia: Feb 5 , 2024 :Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) organized a ‘Special Event and Photo Exhibition’ to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day, at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, today ( Monday).
The OIC Secretary General, H.E. Hissein Brahim Taha graced the event as the ‘Chief Guest’. Senior officers of the OIC General Secretariat, Permanent Representatives of the OIC Member States, diplomats and officials from the diplomatic corps in Jeddah, media persons, members of Kashmir Committee Jeddah and a large number of people from Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora attended the event.
In his opening address, Ambassador Fawad Sher, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the OIC, thanked the OIC Secretary General for his presence and conveyed his gratitude to the General Secretariat for hosting the event at its New Headquarters.
The Ambassador stated that Pakistan and Kashmiris around the world observe Kashmir Solidarity Day every year on 5th February to express their unwavering political, moral, and diplomatic support for the just struggle of their Kashmiri brothers and sisters for their right of self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter and the relevant OIC and UN Security Council Resolutions. He noted that this year, in the backdrop of the war in Gaza where innocent Palestinians were braving the worst forms of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the hands of the Israeli occupation force, the day was being observed with two-fold pain and anguish.
He appreciated the OIC for its long-standing principled position on Jammu and Kashmir and called on the OIC to redouble its efforts to project the voice of the Kashmiris.
In his keynote address, Secretary-General OIC H.E. Hissein Brahim Taha reaffirmed the OIC’s categorical and unequivocal support for the Kashmir cause and stressed that the OIC, through its various mechanisms including the OIC Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir and the IPHRC’s Standing Mechanism to monitor the human rights situation in the IIOJK, would continue to project the Kashmir cause and hold India accountable for its usurpation of the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination. The Secretary General also inaugurated the ‘Photo Exhibition’ depicting the gross human rights violations being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces in IIOJK.
The Chairman Kashmir Committee, Mr. Masood Puri, also spoke on the occasion and lamented India’s growing highhandedness and intransigence in the IIOJK.
The Consul General of Pakistan in Jeddah, H.E. Khalid Majid in his remarks recapitulated Pakistan’s firm position on the Kashmir dispute. He called upon the international community to play its due role in resolving the Kashmir dispute as it has held the security and stability of the entire region hostage.
The event highlighted India’s continued oppression in the IIOJK and its mischievous attempts at consolidating its illegal occupation through a mix of judicial, legislative and executive measures. It underlined that Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognized dispute and that its final disposition must be made in accordance with the will of people of Jammu and Kashmir, expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
