Hearts Stirred As PM Shehbaz Sharif Takes Bold Stand For Kashmir At UNGA

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Sep, 2025) As Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif took the global stage at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this week, the echoes of his words found a powerful resonance not just within diplomatic circles, but in the hearts of million Kashmiri people, who have long endured the shadows of violence, oppression, and forgotten promises.

In what many have described as a courageous and heartfelt address, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif exposed the dark underbelly of India's Hindutva-driven policies, state terrorism and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in effective manner.

For many Kashmiris watching, this was more than a speech but it was a long-overdue acknowledgment of their long pain and suffering on the world stage.

“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif spoke for truth” said Mushtaq Ahmed Shah, Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir’s People’s League, was visibly moved when he spoke to APP.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke our truth to the world,” he said. “He didn’t just present statistics; he carried the cries of mothers and daughters, the silence of mass graves, and the shattered dreams of thousands of Kashmiris at UNGA.”

Mushtaq Shah referenced Pakistan’s 2021 dossier detailing mass human rights violations in IIOJK, including the identification of over 8,652 unmarked graves and alleged extrajudicial killings.

“This is not just about politics,” he added, his voice heavy with emotion. “It’s about the countless children who have been orphaned, the women widowed, the dreams that turned into nightmares at IIOJK.”

For many, the horrors are not abstract. They are lived realities. Forced disappearances, rape, torture, and indiscriminate use of force have plagued the IIOJK for decades. According to Mushtaq Shah, over 162,000 cases of arbitrary arrests and more than 25,000 pellet-gun injuries have been recorded since 1989, along with the devastating impact on women and children.

While the Prime Minister’s address laid bare India's controversial policies, it also extended a hand of dialogue.

Professor Dr Adnan Sarwar Khan, former Chairman of the International Relations Department at the University of Peshawar, welcomed this approach of Pakistan.

“PM Shehbaz Sharif’s offer of dialogue is not a sign of weakness but of wisdom and statesmanship,” Adnan Khan said. “War is never the answer especially not between two nuclear-armed neighbors.

The time has come for diplomacy to take precedence over hostility.”

Adnan Khan referenced India’s recent defeat in a military skirmish earlier in May this year as a wake-up call. “Military superiority or aggression won’t solve Kashmir. Dialogue, backed by mutual respect and international mediation, might.”

Professor Dr. AH Hilali, another noted expert on politics, international law and human rights, underscored the legal framework that supports Kashmiris’ narrative.

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN in 1948, clearly outlines the rights to freedom, dignity, and justice. These are being systematically denied in IIOJK,” he explained.

He emphasized that India, as a signatory to the UDHR, has an international obligation to protect these rights, not trample on them. “Silence in the face of such abuse is complicity,” he said.

For the people of Kashmir, hope often comes with caution. Decades of UN Security Council resolutions remain unimplemented. Yet, PM Shehbaz Sharif’s speech rekindled a flicker of hope that perhaps the international community might finally act.

“The UN must go beyond resolutions,” said Mushtaq Shah. “It must act quickly. If peace in South Asia is to be more than a dream, the Kashmir issue cannot be brushed aside any longer.”

With four wars already fought over the region and tensions consistently simmering, experts warn that continued inaction could result in catastrophe with negative consequences beyond borders.

Outside a mosque in Peshawar's Qissa Khwani , a 65-year-old Hameeda Begum of Azad Kashmir listened to the PM Shahbaz Sharif speech on a radio. “For years, we have felt invisible,” she whispered, tears streaking down her weathered face. “But yesterday, the world heard us due to Pakistani PM address. Even if for a moment for which entire Kashmiris are thankful to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.”

In a world preoccupied with shifting alliances and economic rivalries, the endless pain of a people under siege at IIOJK is often lost in translation.

But through the voice of a Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif who dared to speak truth to power, the story of Kashmir was placed once again at the heart of the global conscience.

The experts said that freedom struggle has entered into critical phase and the world will finally listen to sufferings of Kashmiris by pressing India to give right of self-determination to them as per passed resolution of UN Security Council.