Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has sent a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights drawing his attention towards worsening human rights situation in occupied Kashmir in particular and in India as a whole following the Pulwama incident
ISLAMABAD (Pakistan Point News / NNI - 23rd February, 2019) Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has sent a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights drawing his attention towards worsening human rights situation in occupied Kashmir in particular and in India as a whole following the Pulwama incident.The Foreign Minister pointed out that the situation is turning from bad to worse. He said there is now a concerted campaign to whip up hatred and violence against Kashmiris and discrimination against them across India.
Qurshi urged the UN High Commissioner to issue a call on India to allow unhindered access to UN mechanisms to occupied Kashmir. He stressed that India must also be obliged to comply with its international humanitarian law obligations with respect to the held valley.He said the Indian Government is leveraging Pulwama incident for electoral gains in the forthcoming general elections, and in that process, it is constricting space for a political dialogue and negotiations with both the Kashmiris and Pakistan.
Even more worryingly, the Indian Government has chosen to remain silent in the wake of most appalling acts of violence against Kashmiris, perpetrated by extremist elements.The foreign minister said the attack in Pulwama on Indian Military personnel needs to be seen in an objective manner. He said the Indian government chose to immediately externalize blame for this attack without investigations, fits a known policy approach.He said such an approach is clearly manifest in its attempts to divert global attention from continuing grave human rights and international humanitarian law violations in Indian occupied Kashmir and brand those seeking to safeguard their legitimate political and human rights including the right to self-determination as 'terrorists'.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi underscored that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory, which India continues to occupy in violation of international law. The issue of Jammu and Kashmir remains an outstanding item on the agenda of UN Security Council. He pointed out that India continues to demonstrate its non-compliance with several Security Council resolutions on this subject.The foreign minister said the troubling situation in Jammu and Kashmir also warrants attention from the international humanitarian law perspective, especially the four Geneva Conventions.
Given the active nature of armed conflict in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, it is imperative to impress upon India to faithfully adhere to its obligations under the Conventions to which it is a party.Referring to the Indian atrocities in occupied valley, he said by a conservative estimate, over one hundred thousand Kashmiris have died in their quest to achieve freedom. He said there is hardly any individual in occupied Kashmir who has not lost a loved one since the Kashmiris launched their indigenous struggle in 1989.
He said the widespread repression by over seven hundred thousand Indian security personnel have alienated Kashmiris particularly the youth. He said Pulwama attack, by India's own accounts, was carried out by a young Kashmiri, who had been under Indian captivity. The causes of extreme discontentment and resulting violence are not hard to find.The foreign minister welcomed the call made earlier this week on India by the European Parliament's Sub-Committee on Human Rights to end its atrocities in the occupied Kashmir. NNI
