ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Friday he would give the people of the disputed Kashmir valley the “right” to choose independence if they voted in favor of becoming a part of Pakistan in a future plebiscite.
Khan made the statement while addressing a Kashmir Solidarity Day rally in the Kotli district of Azad Kashmir, the part of the disputed valley administered by Pakistan. The day is commemorated by Pakistan each year on February 5.
Pakistan and India both claim disputed Kashmir in full but rule it in part. UN peacekeepers have been deployed since 1949 to observe a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
The UN Security Council adopted several resolutions in 1948 and in the 1950s on the dispute between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region, including one which says a plebiscite should be held to determine the future of mostly Muslim Kashmir.
The prime minister said he wanted to remind the United Nations it had not fulfilled its promise to the people of Kashmir who were assured their right to self-determination under its resolutions.
"According to the United Nations Security Council resolutions, the people of Kashmir had to get the right to determine their own future," he told the rally, referring to a plebiscite. "Today, I want to remind the world that it has not fulfilled that promise. This is despite the fact that the same United Nations helped the Christian population of East Timor get their independence from Indonesia through a referendum."
"Let me say this today that Inshallah when the people of Kashmir get their right … when you will decide on your future and when the people of Kashmir will Inshallah decide in favour of Pakistan, after that Pakistan will give the people of Kashmir the right to decide if they want to be independent or stay a part of Pakistan. That will be your right!”
Khan said his administration had tried to normalize relations with India after winning general elections in 2018 but the New Delhi government was never interested in peace and wanted to escalate hostilities in the region for domestic political point scoring and to secure election victories.
"I also want to tell the people of [Indian] occupied Kashmir that Pakistan stands in solidarity with them," Khan said. "In fact, the whole Muslim world stands with them. Even if some Muslim governments are not supporting them for some reason, I can assure the people of Kashmir that Muslim populations of these states still stand with them as well."
Later in the day, the foreign office of Pakistan issued a statement, saying there was no change in Pakistan’s principled position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute that remained anchored in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
“The Prime Minister repeatedly spoke about the UNSC resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir and underscored the need for implementation of those resolutions,” the statement added. “Pakistan remains firmly committed to the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute through free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices as enshrined in the relevant UNSC resolutions.”
Kashmiris can choose independence if they opt for Pakistan in plebiscite — PM Khan
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Kashmiris can choose independence if they opt for Pakistan in plebiscite — PM Khan
- UN adopted several resolutions in 1948 and in 1950s on the dispute between India and Pakistan, including one which says a plebiscite be held to determine the future of Kashmir
- Khan reminds UN it had not fulfilled its promise to the people of Kashmir, promises to remain an ambassador for Kashmiris
Imran Khan’s party warns government against shifting him to hospital without informing family, physicians
- Pakistan’s government said on Saturday it would shift Khan to a hospital, form medical board for eye treatment amid outcry over health concerns
- Commencing any medical examination or treatment of Khan in absence of family, physicians will be in violation of constitution, jail rules, says party
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party this week warned the government against shifting him to a hospital for treatment without informing his family and physicians, saying such a move would be in violation of the constitution and jail rules.
The PTI’s response came after the government announced on Saturday that it has decided to transfer the jailed former prime minister from the Central Prison in Rawalpindi to a hospital and form a medical board for his eye treatment.
The developments follow a report submitted to the Supreme Court by a lawyer appointed as a “friend of the court” who was asked to visit Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail earlier this month. The report said the 73-year-old had suffered severe vision loss in his right eye due to central retinal vein occlusion, leaving him with only 15 percent sight in the affected eye.
The report’s findings triggered a sit-in by an opposition alliance, including members of Khan’s PTI, outside Parliament House in Islamabad, who demanded his immediate transfer to Islamabad’s Al-Shifa Hospital. Khan was also allowed to speak to his sons for about 20 minutes, according to his family, despite the former premier’s limited interactions with his family and legal team in recent months due to restrictions that the PTI has challenged in court.
“The party’s stance in this regard is clear: transferring Imran Khan to any location without informing his family and physicians or commencing any medical examination or treatment in their absence, is a grave violation of the Constitution of Pakistan and jail rules,” the PTI said in a statement issued late Saturday.
“This will not be acceptable under any circumstances.”
The party said it rejects “any form of secrecy” around Khan’s health, adding that hiding facts about it would be tantamount to putting the former premier’s health at risk.
The PTI said Khan’s medical examinations and treatments should be ensured immediately in the presence of his personal physicians and at least one member of his family.
“Furthermore, it is essential that this process be conducted independently under the supervision of reputable doctors and hospitals recommended by the party,” it said.
“The government will be held entirely responsible for the consequences of any secretive or unilateral action.”
‘GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY’
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Saturday that the government gives priority to humanitarian considerations and legal requirements.
“Providing facilities to every prisoner in accordance with the law is the government’s responsibility,” Chaudhry wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, Khan’s lawyers on Saturday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking suspension of a Dec. 20, 2025 conviction in a graft case involving state gifts, arguing that continued incarceration during the pendency of the appeal would result in a grave miscarriage of justice.
The petition says the judgment is under substantive legal challenge and requests suspension of the sentence until the appeal is decided, a remedy available under Pakistani law when serious questions are raised about a conviction.
Khan, who was ousted from office via a parliamentary vote in April 2022, has been in jail since August 2023 after his conviction on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated.
The opposition alliance has vowed to continue its sit-in outside Parliament House until Khan is shifted to the hospital.
