India rejects Pakistan's ‘Youm-e-Istehsal’ on Article 370 abrogation anniversary, calls it ‘political absurdity’

Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that Jammu and Kashmir, along with Ladakh, shall forever remain an integral part of India.

India on Wednesday rejected Pakistan’s efforts to oppose the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir seven years ago and said Islamabad’s attempts to interfere in New Delhi’s internal matters were meant to deflect attention from its record on human rights and terrorism.

The Indian government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir granted under Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5, 2019. Since then, Pakistan has marked the day as Youm-e-Istehsal (Day of Exploitation).

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal responded to comments made on the occasion by Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar, saying that India “categorically rejects the political absurdity and futile attempts by Pakistan to observe the so-called Youm-e-Istehsal to spread malicious propaganda”.

“The constitutional changes made on August 5, 2019, are entirely an internal matter of India. These decisions have brought unprecedented socio-economic development, good governance, and democratic empowerment to the people of the region,” he said. “Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on matters that are strictly internal to India.”

Pakistan’s “desperate attempts to peddle falsehoods” were meant only to deflect global attention from the country’s “dismal human rights record and its status as the global epicentre of terrorism”, Jaiswal said.

He reiterated New Delhi’s stated position that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh – created after the scrapping of Article 370 in 2019 – “are, have always been, and shall forever remain an integral and inalienable part of India”.

Jaiswal referred to the crackdown on protesters by Pakistani security forces in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and noted that the international community is “currently witnessing the brutal suppression of fundamental rights” in the region.

“Recent weeks have seen Pakistani security forces resort to lethal violence, targeted killings, and draconian bans to silence peaceful civil rights protests led by the local populace. Such state-sponsored violence against unarmed civilians exposes the profound hypocrisy of the Pakistani establishment,” he said.

At least 90 people were killed after Pakistani forces cracked down on protests spearheaded by the Joint Awami Action Committee in PoJK since June.

Jaiswal said that instead of “engaging in predictable diplomatic theatre”, Pakistan should stop the bloodshed in PoJK, take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terror networks operating from its soil, and “immediately vacate all Indian territories under its illegal and forcible occupation”.

“The world is not fooled by these orchestrated spectacles,” he said.

In a message issued on Wednesday, Dar claimed India’s actions in August 2019 had complicated efforts to promote peace and stability in South Asia and impacted the lives of Kashmiris. He also called on India to take steps to create an environment conducive to resolving the Kashmir issue.

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