Islamabad: On the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day, former Chairman Parliamentary Kashmir Committee Syed Fakhar Imam has said that a crucial legal document related to Kashmir, the Instrument of Accession, is missing and has never been officially produced.

Speaking to journalists, Syed Fakhar Imam said that the alleged document through which Maharaja Hari Singh supposedly acceded Jammu and Kashmir to India has no authentic record anywhere in the world. Researchers who examined archives at the India Office Library in London and India's Foreign Office found that no original, verified document exists.

He said this represents a fundamental legal flaw that should have been challenged from the very beginning. Instead, Pakistan accepted India's claim without demanding proof. Out of 562 princely states, each had the right to decide whether to join Pakistan or India, but in the case of Kashmir, the absence of the Instrument of Accession shows that an illegal act was later portrayed as legal.

Syed Fakhar Imam added that on this basis India took the Kashmir issue to the United Nations, where resolutions calling for a plebiscite were passed, but have never been implemented. He further said that India also forcibly occupied Junagadh and Hyderabad Deccan despite the rulers' decisions in favor of Pakistan or neutrality. The international community, he said, failed to properly condemn those actions.

Referring to the Radcliffe Award, he said that Muslim-majority areas such as Gurdaspur and Ferozepur were wrongly awarded to India, giving it land access to Kashmir. Had Gurdaspur been given to Pakistan, Kashmir would naturally have become part of Pakistan.

He said that under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan conceded three rivers the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi to India, something unprecedented in international history. Today, India is violating that treaty, and Prime Minister Modi has openly said he does not care about it.

Syed Fakhar Imam urged the United Nations Security Council to take serious notice of these violations and pass resolutions against India, saying that India is breaching international law and fundamental human rights. He expressed confidence that one day the Kashmiri people will achieve their legitimate rights.