News Analysis |
Pakistan has repeatedly demanded the international community and the United Nations to look into what is going on in Indian occupied Kashmir. Several media reports suggest that markets are closed, Indian army is on the roads and people are not being allowed to go outside for prayers or visit hospitals. Political experts believe that it is the worst kind of violation of human rights and the world must take notice of the same.
Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Dr Asad Majeed Khan has urged the international community to take strict notice of India’s ongoing atrocities in occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan has repeatedly demanded the international community and the United Nations to look into what is going on in Indian occupied Kashmir.
The ambassador was addressing an event in the state of Virginia on Saturday, when he said the Narendra Modi-led government had held nine million Kashmiris hostage with its ongoing clampdown in the occupied valley and called on the world to break its silence on the grave situation.
The ambassador demanded that the world institutions send analysts and observers to the occupied valley and force India to withdraw its decision to end the special status of occupied Kashmir. India’s actions in occupied Kashmir posed a threat to regional peace and stability, he noted, adding that it was not clear how the situation would unfold in the coming days.
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Similarly, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also demanded the United Nations (UN) to take serious notice of the deteriorating human rights situation in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and play its role in lifting the curfew and other restrictions the Kashmiris are facing for the past 20 days.
Qureshi made the demand during a telephonic conversation with UN chief Antonio Guteress, who is in France attending the G7 summit. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad following the conversation, Qureshi said he expressed serious concern over the humanitarian crisis in IOK for the fourth time to the UN chief.
The ambassador demanded that the world institutions send analysts and observers to the occupied valley and force India to withdraw its decision to end the special status of occupied Kashmir.
“I urged the UN to step forward immediately and play its role in protecting lives of innocent Kashmiris on war footing,” he said. Moreover, “UNSC resolutions entice you to act at the earliest. I also ask the UN chief to play his role in removing curfew in Kashmir and apprise P4 members over the whole situation,” he added.
Qureshi said that he conveyed the Pakistani government’s gratitude to UNHCR’s recent report on human rights violations in IOK. He also invited the UN chief to visit South Asia and Jammu and Kashmir region despite his tight schedule. “The situation demands the UN chief to visit South Asia and especially the whole region of Kashmir on both sides of the border despite his tight schedule. So he can witness the situation on the ground and inform the world about it,” he said.
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It is important to note that a United Nations report accused India of human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and has called for the formation of a commission of inquiry into the allegations. A 43-page report released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, who have fought two wars so far over the Himalayan territory.
Qureshi made the demand during a telephonic conversation with UN chief Antonio Guteress, who is in France attending the G7 summit.
The UN report says the heightened tensions in Kashmir following the February suicide bombing, killing Indian soldiers, continues to have a severe effect on the human rights of civilians, including the right to life. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), 586 people, including 160 civilians, 267 rebels and 159 Indian security personnel were killed last year – the highest since 2008.
Pakistan’s foreign minister said Kashmiris await international community’s backing and “if they [the world] disappoint them then they will be compelled to use any means to defeat this fascism by the Modi government.”
Read more: Kashmir: Foreign Minister Qureshi to speak with UN Secretary General
“After listening to my views and concerns, the UN chief said he would continue his efforts and convey our concerns to the world. The UN chief told me that he briefed the UNSC members over human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. He said all members desired peaceful resolution of the issue. We also desire the same solution, but for the last 20 days, there’s a lockdown in the valley in gross human rights violations,” said the foreign minister.
Dr. Moeed Pirzada in his program on 92 news maintained that the first and foremost important task for the state of Pakistan is to convince the international community to intervene and save the Kashmiris. He presented various accounts of BJP led Indian authorities which aim at killing innocent people and capture young Kashmiri girls. “Pakistan needs to ensure that they are not killed by the Indian forces,” he said.