Pakistan urges world to hold India accountable for rights violations in Kashmir
ISLAMABAD, AUG 5: Pakistan on Thursday urged the international community to hold India accountable for human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a message on the second
anniversary of India's annexation of the disputed region, Prime Minister Imran
Khan said New Delhi has failed to break the will of the Kashmiri people.
"Today marks two years since
India's illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 in Indian Illegally
Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)," he said. "These actions were
followed by an unprecedented military siege and restrictions on fundamental
rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people to perpetuate Indian occupation in
the occupied territory."
He added that Kashmiris face
unabated extrajudicial killings, custodial torture, and death, arbitrary
detentions, burning and looting of houses to inflict collective punishment, and
other worst forms of human rights abuses.
Kashmir is held by India and
Pakistan but claimed by both in full. On Aug. 5, 2019, the Indian government
revoked Article 370 and other related provisions from its Constitution,
scrapping the country's only Muslim-majority state with its autonomy. It was
also split into two federally administered territories.
Khan accused India of bringing
demographic changes to the disputed territory through domicile and land
ownership laws.
He said India's "unilateral
actions" are aimed at changing the region's demographic structure, and
converting Kashmiris into a "minority in their own land."
He called the measures a blatant
violation of international law, including the UN Charter, UN Security Council
resolutions, and the Fourth Geneva Convention. "Pakistan, the Kashmiris,
and the international community forcefully rejected these steps," he said.
The Pakistani prime minister
reaffirmed his country's commitment to the Kashmir cause. He assured all
possible assistance to Kashmiris until the realization of their right to
self-determination and a just resolution of the dispute in accordance with the
relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
'COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT'
In a separate message, President
Arif Alvi said Kashmiris are being subjected to "collective punishment by
Indian occupation forces," which have turned the territory into the
"world's largest militarized zone."
"For the past 24 months,
Kashmiris have suffered the worst human rights violations inflicted by Indian
occupation forces, including a military siege and unprecedented restrictions on
fundamental freedoms of Kashmiris," he said.
"To this day, the senior Kashmiri
leadership remains incarcerated under trumped-up charges. Extrajudicial
killings and arbitrary arrests and detentions also continue unabated."
He said Pakistanis stand by the
"Kashmiri brothers and sisters" in their struggle, and will continue
to highlight the dispute to the international community.
"Our ultimate objective
remains the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as per
relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people,"
the president concluded.
RALLIES
Rallies to show solidarity with
the Kashmiris were held in cities across Pakistan, including Azad Kashmir. The
main rally was organized in the capital Islamabad and led by Foreign Minister
Shah Mahmood Qureshi from the Foreign Ministry to the parliament.
President Alvi, Interior Minister
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, other Cabinet members, and lawmakers also joined the
gathering.
The participants, carrying flags
of Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, raised slogans in support of the
Kashmiri cause.
"The entire Pakistani nation
and Kashmiris reject the illegal and unilateral steps of Aug. 5, 2019,"
Qureshi said, urging the UN and the international community to take
"immediate action" and stop India from "bringing demographic
changes in the disputed valley."
"Two years ago, today, India
acted illegally & unilaterally. With state-backed terrorism, the Modi
regime is sparing no attempt to subjugate the Kashmiri people. But, their
indomitable spirit cannot be broken in their just struggle for self-determination,"
the foreign minister said in a separate tweet.
"We will not relent in our moral & diplomatic support for Kashmiris' right to self-determination in accordance w/ UNSC resolutions. The int'l community must hold [India] accountable for its crimes, to reverse its illegal & unilateral actions & cease all terrorism."
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COURTESY Anews
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