JEDDAH : Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the OIC organized a ‘Special Event and Photo Exhibition’ on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day, at the OIC General Secretariat, .
The OIC Secretary General, H.E. Hissein Brahim Taha graced the event as the ‘Chief Guest’. The OIC Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Yousef Al Dobeiye, Assistant Secretaries General of the OIC, Permanent Representatives of the OIC Member States, officers of the OIC General Secretariat, 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 Syed Mohammad Fawad Sher,
Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the OIC, thanked the OIC Secretary General for his presence. The Ambassador stated that Pakistan and Kashmiris around the world observed 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. Highlighting the parallel between the situations in Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador stated that even the worst forms of war crimes and atrocities have not been able to dampen the courage and the spirits of the Palestinian and Kashmiri people. 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, the OIC Secretary-General 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 OIC Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Yousef Al Dobeiye also addressed the gathering and reiterated OIC’s commitment to the Kashmiris right to self-determination.
The Chairman Kashmir Committee Jeddah, 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, Mr. Khalid Majid, delivered the concluding remarks and recapitulated Pakistan’s firm position on the Kashmir dispute.
The Secretary General and the participants also witnessed the ‘Photo Exhibition’ depicting the gross human rights violations being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces in the IIOJK.
