Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will write separate letters to five heads of states of United Nations Security Council members to highlight atrocities of Indian forces in occupied Kashmir, besides highlighting the issue at all international forums. This was stated by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in the National Assembly on Monday while giving a policy statement on Indian-held Kashmir. The Lower House also adopted a motion and four separate resolutions including the one to condemn "the recent atrocities perpetrated on innocent Kashmiris by Indian security forces in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir."
Aziz also said that Foreign Ministry had forwarded a proposal to the government to send delegations comprising parliamentarians and officials to different countries to highlight Indian atrocities in Jammu Kashmir. The Indian forces have so far killed over 50 people and injured over 5,000 in indiscriminate shooting and violence, he said, adding that Human Rights Commission has been asked to send a fact finding committee to Jammu Kashmir to determine the facts and highlight violations of human rights.
The advisor said that Indian forces had been using pellet guns to suppress Kashmiris, which is inhuman and violation of human rights. "The use of pellet guns should be banned," he said, adding that hundreds of Kashmiris have been blinded by the pellets. "India has also blocked social and mainstream media in Kashmir to hide its atrocities committed with the pellet guns," he said.
"The use of inhumane pellet guns which blinded unarmed protestors including women and children is especially deplorable and is against the canons of international humanitarian laws," the resolution said. The advisor said that India enforced 11 laws in Kashmir to provide a cover to human rights violations to protect itself from any international repercussion.
He also dispelled the impression that Pakistan failed to highlight the issue at international forums, saying that the Prime Minister has effectively raised the issue through his speeches at UN General Assembly and during his meeting with the US President Obama.
He said that it was an indigenous movement to free Kashmir from Indian forces and has nothing to do with terrorism. "Media and other organisations have been criticising Indian forces' brutalities in Kashmir and talking about political solution of the issue," he said. "This House salutes and expresses complete solidarity with the brave people of Indian Occupied Kashmir in their latest popular, spontaneous and peaceful protests against the illegal occupation by India and extra judicial killing of Kashmiri youth leader Burhan Wani and other innocent persons. It reiterates its continuing political, moral and diplomatic support for this just struggle," the resolution reads.
Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Barjees Tahir urged the United Nations to honour its resolutions to hold plebiscite in Kashmir. He said that hundreds of Kashmiris had sacrificed their lives and they deserve a right to self determination.
The minister said that India had deployed over 800,000 troops in Kashmir to suppress the freedom movement, but it failed to do so. "We cannot start trade with India until the Kashmir issue is resolved," he said.
Earlier speaking on the issue, chairman Kashmir Committee Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the whole nation was united on the Kashmir issue and would continue the struggle till plebiscite was held in Jammu and Kashmir. He urged the government to raise the issue at all international forums including the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). "Pakistan has fought three wars with India over the issue, but we are ready to negotiate with India to resolve the issue peacefully," he said.
Fazl also urged the parliamentarians to give proposals to the government and Kashmir Committee on how to effectively handle the Kashmir issue at the national and international forums. PTI member Dr Shireen Mazari criticised the Foreign Office for its failure to highlight Indian atrocities in Kashimr and issuing a usual statement on it. She said that India took the issue to the UN Security Council; therefore it's no longer a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan rather it is an international issue that needs to be resolved at the earliest. She urged the Foreign Office to take the issue to the United Nations and highlight and press the international community to increase pressure on India for the plebiscite.
"We are a party to the Kashmir issue and need to highlight it on legal and diplomatic forums," she said, "we should come out of American and Indian influence and talk about the issue effectively." Sahibzada Tariqulla of Jamaat-e-Islami said that it was for the first time in the past three years that Kashmir issue was being debated in the assembly. He also said the Kashmiris should be given a right to self-determination.
PTI member Dr Arif Alvi said that Pakistani flags were waived at all protests in Indian-held Kashmir which shows Kashmiris want to live with Pakistan. He urged the government and Kashmir Committee to devise an effective social media and mainstream strategy to highlight atrocities of Indian forces and express solidarity with Kashmiri people.
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