From Kashmir to Gaza

Today is October 27 as I write this piece. It is a solemn date observed across Pakistan and globally as Black Day for Kashmiris. On this day in 1947, Indian troops landed in Srinagar, marking the onset of a brutal, decades-long military occupation that stripped Kashmiris of their fundamental right to self-determination. The shadows cast over Kashmir echo with profound clarity in another corner of the globe. Palestine suffers the same fate as Kashmir. Palestine and Kashmir represent two of the longest-standing, unresolved colonial tragedies of our time. Both regions suffer under the weight of foreign military occupation, systemic land confiscation, forced demographic alteration and the denial of statehood. The shared pain of these dual struggles reinforces a fundamental truth: foreign occupation is an affront to human dignity wherever it exists. For Pakistan, advocating for the oppressed in Gaza and the West Bank is not merely a foreign policy stance but an existential duty born out of its own national history. Families of police martyrs get residential plots documents in Sargodha Pakistan’s commitment to the Palestinian cause is deeply embedded in its foundations. Decades before the international community fully recognised the plight of the Palestinians, Pakistan’s founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, stood as one of their most vocal advocates. Long before independence in 1947, Mr Jinnah persistently denounced Western imperialist manoeuvres to partition Arab lands. Jinnah clearly understood the gravity of the crisis unfolding in the Middle East, noting in his 1948 Eid-ul-Fitr message to the nation that the drama of power politics being staged in Palestine, Indonesia and Kashmir should serve as an eye-opener to us. He warned that the unprincipled imposition of foreign control on Palestinian land was a direct betrayal of international ethics. For Jinnah, a nation born from a constitutional struggle for self-determination could never condone the subjugation of another people. This foundational ideology set a permanent trajectory for Pakistan’s diplomatic doctrine of total opposition to illegal occupation and absolute support for Palestinian sovereignty. Stent shortage hits Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology Hospital That moral trajectory was on full display on October 16, 2026, when Pakistan’s Second Secretary addressed the UN General Assembly’s Second Committee. Delving into the catastrophic consequences of ongoing Israeli violence, Pakistan presented a sobering assessment of the crisis. Gaza’s economy has experienced a devastating 84 per cent contraction, effectively crushing local livelihoods and trade, while reconstruction costs have ballooned to an astronomical $71. 4 billion, requiring generations of international assistance to restore basic infrastructure. Furthermore, human development indices in Gaza have been set back by 77 years, erasing nearly a century of social and educational progress. The relentless loss of life continues, with over 1, 400 Palestinians killed despite ongoing peace frameworks, exposing the tragic insufficiency of partial, unmonitored agreements. Addressing these statistics, Pakistan urged the international community to move beyond rhetoric, calling for an immediate, comprehensive ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian aid and robust, sustained international support for UNRWA. Three-year-old girl allegedly sexually assaulted, suspect arrested Pakistan’s UN address also cast a critical light beyond Gaza, highlighting the escalating annexation tactics underway in the occupied West Bank. Systematic land seizures, illegal settlement expansion and forced displacement are actively undermining the territorial continuity of a future Palestinian state. Pakistan specifically highlighted the Israeli government’s advancement of the E1 settlement project. The E1 project is not merely another routine settlement expansion; it is a strategic effort to bisect the West Bank, sever East Jerusalem from Palestinian hinterlands and permanently alter the region’s geography. By isolating communities and fragmenting territory, the advancement of E1 represents a calculated attempt to dismantle the physical viability of a sovereign Palestine. Natasha Daultana calls for strengthening Pakistan, Germany relations In response to this ongoing erosion of international law, Pakistan reiterated its backing for key multilateral efforts, including UN Security Council Resolution 2803, the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict and the New York Declaration. However, Pakistan reaffirmed that lasting peace cannot be built on partial settlements or frozen conflicts. A durable solution requires an immediate and complete halt to Israeli settlement expansion, land grabs and annexation measures, alongside the total termination of the illegal occupation. Lasting stability demands the establishment of an independent, contiguous, sovereign and viable Palestinian state with Bait ul Muqaddas as its capital. Violent crime falls at historic rate in Bahawalpur As Pakistan reflects on the solemnity of Black Day, the struggles of Kashmir and Palestine stand intertwined in the global consciousness. The plight of Palestinians and Kashmiris reminds us that selective morality in international relations only breeds perpetual conflict. From Quaid-e-Azam’s early warnings to Pakistan’s current diplomatic defence at the United Nations, the nation’s message remains clear: true peace can only emerge when illegal occupations end and the universal right to self-determination is honoured for all. Faisal AhmadThe writer is a freelance columnist who is an alumnus of QAU and FUI He can be reached at fa7263125@gmail. com

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