Every year on 5 January, the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their well wishers across the world observe Kashmir Self Determination Day. It is not merely a date on the calendar; it is a solemn reminder of a promise made by the international community, a pledge recorded in history, and a right that remains unrealized despite the passage of decades. This day commemorates the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) resolution of 5 January 1949, which affirmed the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their own political future through a free and impartial plebiscite.

The roots of the Kashmir dispute stretch back to the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, an event that reshaped South Asia but left deep scars. Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim majority princely state ruled by a Hindu maharaja, became the focal point of competing claims by the newly independent states of Pakistan and India. The conflict that erupted soon after led the matter to the United Nations, marking one of the earliest international disputes placed before the world body.

On 5 January 1949, the UNCIP adopted a resolution that went beyond ceasefire arrangements and addressed the core issue: the will of the Kashmiri people. The resolution stated unequivocally that the final disposition of the state would be made in accordance with the freely expressed........

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