ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday categorically rejected the grant ofdomicile certificates of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOK) to Indiannationals, which observers believe is an attempt to alter demography of theMuslim-majority area.
The certificate, a sort of citizenship right, entitles a person toresidency and government jobs in the region, which till last year werereserved only for the local population.
A statement issued by Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saidreportedly 25,000 Indian national were issued “bogus” domicile certificate,a move which was also rejected by the Kashmiris.
“The certificates issued to non-Kashmiris including, among others, theIndian government officials under “Jammu and Kashmir Grant of DomicileCertificate (Procedure), 2020″ are illegal, void and in complete violationof the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions, andInternational law including the 4th Geneva Convention,” the officialstatement said.
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The latest action also vindicates Pakistan’s consistent stance that themajor intention behind the Indian government’s illegal and unilateralactions of August 5, 2019 was to change the demographic structure of IOJ&Kand turn Kashmiris into a minority in their own land, the statement added.
