Pak efforts, Sacrifices against terror universally Accepted

At the 35th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Pakistan gave a stern reply in response to the Right of Reply made by India.

According to media sources, Qazi Saleem, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN, said Pakistan has been at the forefront of global fight against terror and our efforts and sacrifices have been universally accepted and recognized. “We have sacrificed more than 65,000 innocent souls in this fight. Our success against the terrorists’ networks would definitely not go well with India considering that they had put in years of effort in creating those terror networks by actively engaging in state sponsored terrorism. But our resolve, conviction and policy of zero tolerance against terrorism has triumphed, he added.

The fact finding report of 25 Citizens Group, he said, has clearly concluded that the actions of Indian forces in the Kashmir valley are far removed from the values of a democratic republic.

He said, “Pakistan always stood up for the oppressed and suppressed people of the world. It’s time that we, the United Nations should join our voices to stop the Indian persecution of innocent Kashmiris who are paying the price for freedom with their blood. Basic rights and fundamental freedoms of innocent Kashmiris are being ruthlessly violated with impunity every day.”  Martin Luther King Junior who too had suffered indignities said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the repression by bad people but the silence over it by good people”.

He said the grave situation of gross and systemic violations of human rights and denial of fundamental freedoms in occupied Kashmir requires Council’s urgent attention.

Qazi Saleem said the Indian government has broken its own record of brutality in Kashmir not only in target killing but also by indiscriminately killing over 100 young unarmed Kashmiri protestors. The Indian forces have blinded hundreds of Kashmiris, including children, and injured over 16,000 protesters with live ammunition, pellet guns and gas shells. The world witnessed its first mass blinding in Kashmir, which compelled the New York Times to label the year 2016 as “Year of dead eyes” in Kashmir.

He said the continuing Indian brutalities and unprecedented violence by Indian occupation forces in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir since July 2016 are crimes against humanity. Indian barbarities are a cause of deep anguish and pain for the  Kashmiris and a slur on respect for human rights globally.

He said India has banned the social, electronic and print media to prevent reports of brutalities against Kashmiris from reaching the outside world. Despite this media blackout, the atrocities being committed in IoK are being reported in Indian and international media. These brutalities are also being increasingly criticized in many parliaments around the world. Political analysts and members of civil society from across the globe have concluded that the large scale uprising,  which is going on in IoK, involving mostly young unarmed Kashmiris confronting fully armed Indian occupation forces, clearly shows that Kashmir is a burning issue requiring urgent International attention.

Qazi Saleem said in their desperation to hide the reality of the indigenous uprising of young Kashmiris, including by tens of thousands of girls and boys, India is trying to equate it with terrorism. The facts have repeatedly come out proving that indigenous Kashmiris were killed by Indian occupation forces in 'fake encounters'and 'buried'. Nobody believes that thousands of young boys and girls, who havebeen agitating ceaselessly since July, 2016 are terrorists.

The people of occupied Kashmir are losing faith in Indian democracy since in the recent sham by-election in Srinagar on 9th April, he said, adding that the abysmally low voter turnout of 7% collapsing to 2% during re-polling is the lowest in 30 years.

He said despite Indian state terrorism and repression the steadfast resolve displayed by the Kashmiris sends a clear message to India. How many more Kashmiris would India kill so mercilessly? If India thinks that by killing more and more Kashmiri youth India would suppress the Kashmiris movement for their right of self determination, it has not learnt any lessons from history.

He called upon the international community to urge India to put an immediate end to the ongoing bloodshed of innocent Kashmiris and behave as a responsible member of the international community by honoring its commitments and obligations under the International human rights and humanitarian law.