Lahore: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Wednesday said India had failed to break the resolve of the Kashmiri people despite employing its worst repressive tactics over the past seven years, asserting that the people of Occupied Kashmir remained steadfast in their struggle for the right to self-determination.

In a special message on Youm-e-Istehsal-e-Kashmir, he said seven years had passed since the Indian government's illegal and unilateral decision on August 5, 2019, to revoke the special constitutional status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir. However, he said the move had neither altered the internationally disputed status of Kashmir nor weakened the Kashmiris' aspiration for freedom.

Rehman said New Delhi's decision was a blatant violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, international law and globally accepted principles. He termed August 5, 2019, a "black day" in the history of occupied Kashmir and the Kashmiri freedom movement.

He said the Modi government's action had become a stain on the forehead of a country that claims to be the world's largest democracy. He added that the people of occupied Kashmir had endured 78 years of state terrorism, oppression, lawlessness, exploitation, bloodshed and gross human rights violations. The revocation of Kashmir's special status, he said, amounted to open aggression and represented a direct challenge to the authority of the UN Security Council.

The JI chief said the Kashmir freedom movement would continue until the dispute was resolved in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. He expressed confidence that, despite all forms of repression and coercion, the people of Kashmir would never abandon their right to self-determination.

Rehman said the people of Pakistan had always demonstrated unwavering solidarity with the Kashmiris and would continue to support their just cause. Reiterating Pakistan's longstanding position, he said Kashmir was the country's jugular vein and that the hearts of Pakistanis beat with their Kashmiri brethren.

Expressing optimism about the future, he said the day was not far when the sacrifices of the Kashmiri people would bear fruit, enabling them to determine their own future through their collective struggle and fulfil their aspiration of accession to Pakistan.