ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi yesterday said the whole Pakistan was united on the Kashmir issue.

In a statement on the Youm-e-Shuhada-e-Kashmir (Kashmir martyrs day), Qureshi said the political and military leadership of Pakistan and the Pakistani nation had been standing in solidarity with the Kashmiris in their just struggle for the right to self-determination and prayed for their success to get rid of the illegal occupation of India.

He said Kashmiris in the Occupied Kashmir had been bracing the worst kind of Indian atrocities with bravery and reiterated that they were not alone in their just struggle for right to self-determination.

The FM said that Prime Minister Imran Khan, as ambassador for the Kashmiris, had been raising the issue vociferously and openly at all fora including the United Nations.

He said that thousands of people in Serbia had been killed but the world remained silent. The international community must learn from these horrific experiences and should not shut their eyes over the situation in held Kashmir.

“China had altogether rejected Indian unilateral steps of August 5 last year over IOJ&K as it considered Indian occupation of lands as illegal,” he said.

Qureshi also urged the Muslim Ummah to play their effective role in supporting the oppressed Kashmiris by making their voice being heard through social media and at all level.

The minister observed that Kashmiris’ struggle had a long history of sacrifices. India had been employing all kinds of sham tactics and illegal steps to suppress their voices.

“From the year 1931 to till this day, there were many ups and downs in this historic struggle, but neither such spirit waned, nor the Kashmiri leadership waivered from its stance,” he added.

Earlier, separately, the foreign minister on his twitter account paid tribute to 22 Kashmiris who had laid down their lives during a protest against the Dogra forces in 1931.

“I pay tribute to 22 sons of J&K whose courage in face of brutal Dogra forces re-galvanized a decades old struggle for self-determination in 1931; an inalienable right Kashmiris continue to die for to this day,” he added.

Qureshi said that no occupation could subjugate spirit of brave Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Foreighn Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said on the occasion of the 89thYoum-e-Shuhada-e-Kashmir, the Government and people of Pakistan join Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and across the globe to pay homage to the 22 innocent and unarmed Kashmiris who stood up for truth and justice against the tyranny of the Dogra force in 1931.

“Their extraordinary courage and sacrifice kindled a valiant struggle for the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination that continues to-date,” she said.