Embassy of Pakistan
France
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Pakistan Day celebrated in Paris
March 23, 2023
This morning, the Embassy of Pakistan Paris organized a flag hoisting ceremony to commemorate the Pakistan Day. The event was attended by officials of the Embassy as well as members of the Pakistani community residing in France. Messages of the President and Prime Minister were read out.
In his remarks, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad highlighted the significance of 23rd March 1940, when the Muslim community in the sub-continent passed the Pakistan Resolution, seeking a separate homeland where they could live according to their own culture, values, and faith.
He praised the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founding father, who spearheaded the freedom movement – a political, constitutional and democratic struggle, that led to the emergence of Pakistan.
He emphasized the importance of unity and persistent hard work to achieve the desired objectives of progress and prosperity.
The ceremony was followed by cultural performances by children and national songs.
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Embassy of Pakistan
(France)
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PRESS RELEASE
Kashmir Solidarity Day observed in France
Paris; February 5, 2023
Pakistan Embassy Paris arranged an event to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day, which was attended by a large number of people belonging to the Pakistani and Kashmiri community.
Messages of the President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan were read out on the occasion and a documentary was screened, which highlighted atrocities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Expressing solidarity with the people of IIOJK, speakers condemned the human rights violations being committed by the Indian occupation forces and called upon the United Nations and the international community to play their role in resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Addressing the gathering, Ambassador Mr. Asim Iftikhar Ahmad paid tribute to the commitment and sacrifice of the Kashmiri people for their just cause of attaining self-determination. The entire Pakistani nation stands with their Kashmiri brethren and it is our firm belief that one day the people of Kashmir will succeed in securing freedom from the oppression and illegal occupation of the Indian military.
He appreciated the active role being played by the Pakistani and Kashmiri community living in France for supporting the cause of Kashmir.
An exhibition of photographs and illustrations highlighting the atrocities being committed by the Indian occupation forces in IIOJK was also on display at the Chancery.
Later, members of the Pakistani and Kashmiri community participated in a protest rally from Gare de l’Est till Place de la Republique in which demonstrators displayed banners and placards and delivered speeches highlighting the Kashmir dispute.
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Message from Dr Arif Alvi, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day i.e., 5th February 2023
Today, we observe Kashmir Solidarity Day to express Pakistan’s unflinching support for the legitimate and just struggle of the Kashmiri people for the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination. On this occasion, we pay rich tribute to the selfless sacrifices made by our Kashmiri brothers and sisters during their decades-old resistance to the Indian occupation.
We observe this day to draw the attention of the international community towards the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions which provide that the final disposition of the Jammu and Kashmir Dispute would be made in accordance with the will of the people, expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
Over the last 75 years, the Indian occupation forces have unleashed a reign of terror and carried out a relentless campaign to intimidate and suppress the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). The presence of more than 900,000 Indian armed personnel has turned the region into an open prison. India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 in IIOJK were a blatant violation of international law, including the UN Charter, the 4th Geneva Convention, and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. India has been consistently engaged in efforts to further entrench these illegal measures through artificial demographic changes, political engineering, economic marginalization of the local people and an assault on Kashmiri identity and culture.
It is alarming that India is undertaking demographic changes in IIOJK by bringing non-Kashmiris to settle in the valley. India’s heavy-handed approach frequently manifests itself in extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, custodial torture, enforced disappearances and the use of pellet guns in IIOJK. India has muzzled the media and incarcerated the Kashmiri leadership and defenders of human rights. These excesses and brutalities have been well-documented by several human rights organizations and international media outlets.
Today, Pakistan calls upon India to allow unfettered access to the UN and OIC observers, international media and human rights organizations to IIOJK to obtain first-hand information about the situation there, and investigate and report the human rights violations. Pakistan also urges the international community and organizations to take practical steps to hold India accountable for its gross and widespread human rights violations in IIOJK.
Pakistan has consistently maintained that a lasting solution to the Jammu and Kashmir Dispute is possible only in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people. Pakistan will continue to extend its unstinted moral, diplomatic and political support for this just cause.
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Message by Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Kashmir Solidarity Day (5 February 2023)
Every year, on the fifth of February, the people of Pakistan reaffirm their solidarity with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters. On this Kashmir Solidarity Day, we renew our commitment of our unflinching support to them in their just struggle for inalienable right to self-determination.
The Jammu and Kashmir dispute is one of the oldest, unresolved items on the agenda of the United Nations. Over the last seventy-five years, India has continued its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and suppressed its people. Thousands of Kashmiris have sacrificed their lives and suffered countless atrocities at the hands of the Indian Occupation Forces. The already bad situation took a turn for the worst following India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019. These illegal and unilateral steps have been rejected by Pakistan and the Kashmiris.
The human rights situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) remains a source of grave concern to Pakistan and the rest of the world. India has brazenly targeted Kashmiri men, women and children through curfews, blackouts, arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and denial of basic rights. The popular Kashmiri political leadership has been illegally detained or deliberately victimized through fictitious cases. The media has been silenced through coercion and religious scholars have been arrested. Draconian laws have been enacted that deny the fundamental freedoms of the Kashmiri people.
India has also intensified its campaign to bring about demographic changes in IIOJK, so as to convert the Kashmiris into a minority in their own land. These actions are in violation of UNSC resolutions and international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention.
India is mistaken if it believes it can crush the iron will of the Kashmiri people. No amount of state terrorism, unleashed by Indian Occupation Forces, can break the will of the Kashmiris or undermine their legitimate struggle.
We urge India to honour its commitments made to Pakistan, the UN and, above all, to the Kashmiri people.
On behalf of the entire Pakistani nation, I want to assure our Kashmiri brothers and sisters that we stand shoulder to shoulder with them. We will continue to lend moral, diplomatic and political support to their just cause, until they attain freedom from Indian oppression. Pakistan will also continue to raise its voice at all international platforms and highlight India’s barbaric actions in IIOJK.
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Message by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the Occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day (5 February 2023)
As we observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day, the people of Pakistan salute the sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters who have suffered for more than seventy-five years under brutal Indian oppression.
For over seven decades, Indian Occupation Forces have brutalized the Kashmiris and denied them their rights. Today, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) is one of the most-militarized zones of the world, with the presence of over 900,000 occupation forces.
With its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, India has opened a new chapter in suppressing the people of IIOJK. With fresh delimitation of electoral constituencies, issuance of millions of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris, and addition of hundreds of thousands of non-Kashmiris in the voters lists, India’s ruling dispensation aims to transform Kashmiris into a disempowered minority in their own land.
Kashmiris are living in a constant state of fear as Indian forces engage in indiscriminate use of force and extra-judicial killings in staged “cordon-and-search” operations. Political activists and human rights defenders face arbitrary detention, torture and confiscation of properties.
India must end its gross human rights violations in IIOJK; reverse its unilateral and illegal actions of 5 August 2019 including demographic changes; repeal draconian laws; allow UN-mandated investigations into cases of extrajudicial killings and; implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
I want to remind our Kashmiri brothers and sisters that Pakistan will never sit back and watch silently while Kashmiris continue to suffer Indian atrocities. Jammu and Kashmir dispute will remain a key pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy. We will continue to lend unstinted moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmiri people until the realization of their right to self-determination in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
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Embassy of Pakistan
(France)
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PRESS RELEASE
Paris; December 17, 2023
Quaid-e-Azam’s birthday and Christmas celebrated at Embassy of Pakistan in Paris. Large number of Pakistani community members and French guests participated. Children made speeches about interfaith harmony & highlighted Quaid-e-Azam’s leadership in the creation of Pakistan. Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad wished Merry Xmas to the Pakistani & Christian community in France. He said that Jesus’ message of love, peace & compassion, and Quaid’s vision of freedom & equal rights were manifest in this celebration. President Alleluia France Association, Mr. Francis Xavier thanked the Embassy for arranging the event & remarked that Christianity’s message of peace & brotherhood brings people of all faiths closer together, thus creating a harmonious society. Guests were treated with traditional Pakistani food and music. National songs and Christmas hymns were presented by artists belonging to the Pakistani diaspora.
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