File photo of Jalil Abbas Jilani. Raveendran—AFP
Interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Monday strongly condemned an Indian Supreme Court ruling upholding the 2019 abrogation of the special constitutional status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, stressing it holds no legal significance.
Describing the decision as further evidence of the “compromised” credibility of the Indian Supreme Court under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, he denounced the verdict as “a travesty of justice, based on distorted historical and legal arguments.” Additionally, he emphasized, it failed to recognize the internationally disputed nature of held-Kashmir.
The caretaker’s press conference followed the Indian apex court announcing a verdict it had reserved in September. In its ruling, the court described held-Kashmir as an “integral” part of India, ordered elections in the region within a year, and described Article 370 as a “temporary” provision that was never intended to be a permanent fixture.
Underscoring Pakistan’s longstanding view of the Kashmir dispute, Jilani stressed that the Supreme Court’s ruling did not detract from the “gross and systematic human rights violations being perpetrated by India in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.” The judgment, he warned, would not distract the international community from ongoing human rights violations in held Kashmir.
Maintaining India has no right to make “unilateral decisions on the status of this disputed territory against the will of the Kashmiri people,” he said Pakistan does not acknowledge the supremacy of the Indian constitution over Jammu and Kashmir, which is an internationally recognized dispute.
“Any process subservient to the Indian constitution carries no legal significance,” he added.
Accusing India of using the pretext of domestic legislation and judicial verdicts to abdicate its international obligations, he claimed Delhi’s plans to annex held-Kashmir were “bound to fail.” The judicial endorsement of Aug. 5, 2019 abrogation of Article 370, he said, was a “severe injustice.”
Stressing that the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and conduct of local assembly elections could not substitute the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people, as enshrined in U.N. resolution, he demanded Article 370 be restored to create an environment conducive to peace and dialogue. He also maintained that Pakistan would continue to extend its full political, diplomatic, and moral support to the people of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for the realization of their right to self-determination.
According to Jilani, Pakistan would soon convene a meeting of all stakeholders and decide on its future course of action. As part of this, he explained, Islamabad intended to communicate with international bodies such as the U.N., the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the European Parliament to highlight the issue.