By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday urged neighboring India to move from "dispute denial to dispute resolution" on Kashmir in the interest of "lasting" peace and security in South Asia.
"History has proven, time and again, that durable peace in South Asia remains contingent upon the settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. In the interest of lasting peace and security in South Asia, India must move from dispute denial to dispute resolution," Sharif said in his message on the fifth anniversary of the Indian government’s action of revoking the disputed valley's longstanding special status.
Islamabad observes the day as "Youm-e-Istehsal" or the Exploitation Day since Aug. 5, 2019 when New Delhi removed the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Articles 370 and 35A.
It also downgraded and divided the disputed region into two federally-administered Union Territories (UT).
Since then, UT of Jammu and Kashmir, and UT of Ladakh are separately administered.
Sharif further said that India's "coercive" methods have failed to diminish Kashmiris' yearning for the realization of their "inalienable" right to self-determination.
The international community, he further said, must urge India to halt its egregious human rights violations in the Indian-administered Kashmir.
President Asif Ali Zardari, in his message, reiterated Islamabad's "strong moral, political and diplomatic" support to the Kashmiris till the realization of their "inalienable" right to self-determination.
- Countrywide rallies
Rallies and demonstrations were held across Pakistan, and its administered part of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday to mark the fifth anniversary of the Indian government’s action of revoking the disputed valley's longstanding special status.
Carrying banners and flags of Pakistan and its controlled part of Kashmir, commonly known as Azad or Liberated Kashmir, hundreds of protesters marched in Islamabad, condemning the New Delhi's action.
The march, also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and several diplomats, began from the Foreign Ministry and culminated at the capital's famous D Square.
Addressing the rally, Dar urged the international community to pressure India to hold a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the UN resolutions.
He said that Kashmiris across the globe have rejected New Delhi's "unilateral" action.
In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir, dozens of "handcuffed" children, in a show of solidarity with Kashmiris confined in the Indian-administered Kashmir, took part in a protest rally.
Similar rallies were held in the country's commercial capital Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Faisalabad, Bagh, Rawlakot, Mirpur and other districts.