• Kashmir Martyrs’ Day being observed today
• President, PM reaffirm pledge to support Kashmiris

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday urged the international community to play its role in ensuring respect for human rights in India-held Jammu and Kashmir and support efforts aimed at the peaceful resolution of the long-simmering dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

In their messages on the eve of Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, they reaffirmed their pledge to stand shoulder to shoulder with Kashmiris steadfastly supporting their just cause. The Kashmir Martyrs’ Day is observed on July 13 every year.

“The Government of Pakistan reiterates its unwavering political, diplomatic, and moral support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We stand in complete solidarity with their just struggle for the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in UNSC resolutions. Lasting peace and stability in South Asia remain contingent upon the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. The international community should prevail upon India to implement UN resolutions on Kashmir,” President Zardari and PM Shehbaz said in their messages to mark the occasion.

“Today, on the 95th Kashmir Martyrs’ Day (Youm-i-Shuhada-i-Kashmir), I pay rich tribute to the 22 Kashmiri martyrs who rendered the ultimate sacrifice while braving the indiscriminate firing of the Dogra forces in 1931,” President Zardari said.

The people of Pakistan join their Kashmiri brethren in commemorating sacrifice of the martyrs of 1931, he said. Regrettably, Kashmiris were still struggling against India’s illegal occupation, he said.

He said 900,000-strong Indian occupation forces continued to hold the Kashmiris hostage to perpetuate the wrongful occupation. India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, were yet another attempt to strip the Kashmiri people of their identity and turn them into a minority, he added.

President Zardari asked India to immediately halt repression in held Kashmir, cease all human rights violations, release all political prisoners, lift the military siege and stop its attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory.

PM Shehbaz, in his message, paid tribute to the courage, resilience and sacrifices of all martyrs of Jammu and Kashmir. .

“Kashmir Martyrs’ Day also symbolises the resilience, courage and unwavering determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, which have inspired generations, to continue their just struggle for justice and the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination. The readiness of the people to make the ultimate sacrifice for this fundamental right continues to shape and define the historical struggle of Jammu and Kashmir,” the prime minister said.

PM Shehbaz said that despite heavy militarisation, continued repression, and persistent rights violations in held Kashmir, the resolve of the Kashmiris remains unshaken. “Arbitrary detentions, suppression of political dissent, restrictions on the media, and attempts to alter the demographic and political landscape of the occupied territory have been widely documented and condemned by international human rights organisations and United Nations human rights mechanisms. Yet, the people of Jammu and Kashmir continue to steadfastly pursue their legitimate aspirations,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2026