FM urges UN to intervene over IoK situation, refrain India from illegal moves

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has urged the United Nations Secretary General to immediately take note of the serious situation in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) by forcing India to stall state oppression and stop human rights abuses.

The minister said India must be refrained from unprovoked firing across LoC and halt any actions that could bring about a material change in the situation on ground, in violation of Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.

In a letter addressed to the United Nations Secretary General, Presidents of the United Nations Security Council and United Nations General Assembly on Aug 1 and shared by the Foreign office in a press release on Monday further reiterated Pakistan’s call to establish a UN Fact-Finding Mission to visit IOK to assess the on-ground situation.

“Pakistan also supports the OHCHR’s recommendation for establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate into the gross human rights violations. Commensurate with the gravity of evolving situation in IoK and to prevent its potential ramifications for the region, I would once again urge you to appoint a UN Special Representative on Jammu and Kashmir,” the foreign minister further added.

The foreign minister expressing the apprehension had clearly cautioned in his letter that India was preparing ground to abolish Article 35-A of its Constitution as a first step, followed by the revocation of Article 370. Article 35-A defined the residents of IoK and limits subjects like property ownership and state citizenship to the current residents of the area.

“Pakistan has consistently opposed any steps that seek to alter the demographic structure of IoK since they can materially affect the plebiscite arrangements to be held under the UN auspices,” he emphasized.

Qureshi said these Indian moves were also a clear breach of the UN Security Council Resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, particularly with regard to realization of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris.

The Indian government on Monday passed presidential decree abolishing the constitutional status of the Indian Occupied Kashmir.

The minister to the latest Indian move, stressed upon the UN secretary general that the relevant UN Security Council resolutions provided that “the final disposition of the State of Jammu & Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.”

The minister also drew UN secretary general’s attention to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 38, which called upon Pakistan and India, ‘to inform the Council immediately of any material change in the situation which occurs or appears to either of them to be about to occur while the matter is under consideration by the Council, and consult with the Council thereon’.

He maintained that Pakistan was of the view that the steps being taken by India had the real potential to further lead to the deteriorating human rights situation in IoK as well as carried serious implications for peace and security in South Asia.

Qureshi in his detailed letter brought attention of the UN secretary general to the three inter-locking developments relating to Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IoK) that entailed grave dangers to regional peace and security in South Asia.

About the growing scale and seriousness of the human rights situation in IoK, he said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had testified to the gravity of human rights abuses in its second report released last month.

“This latest report documents, extensively and independently, the full range of atrocities- killing of civilians including in custody, blinding of young Kashmiris including children through the use of pellet guns and the use of rape, torture and enforced disappearances as tools of state suppression,” it added.

These gross and systematic violations of human rights were being enabled by India through the continued application of its draconian laws in IoK and abetted by a culture of impunity rampant among security forces.

The foreign minister said “The United Nations has a responsibility to speak out against these violations, documented by an independent entity such as OHCHR and occurring in a territory recognized by the UN Security Council as disputed.”

He said the pace of Indian firing and shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) was picking up again. Not only these Indian actions violated the Ceasefire Understanding of 2003 between Pakistan and India, they were causing civilian casualties and leading to heavy damages to civilian infrastructure.

“Left unaddressed, these unprovoked steps have the potential to escalate the situation in the area, with grave implications for peace and security,” he reminded the world body.

He further said cross-LoC violations had been accompanied by recent India media reports highlighting leaked communications from the Indian Home Ministry about deployment of additional 10,000 or more paramilitary forces in IoK. The Indian occupied Kashmir was already the most militarized zone in the world, with over 700,000 troops deployed for several decades.

Reports of additional forces were corroborated by developments on the ground, including landing of special flights carrying these forces at Srinagar airport and additional companies reaching the Indian Occupied Kashmir Valley by road, he added.

“So far, no senior Indian government official has publically denied these media reports or to calm down the situation, lending further credence to these reports,” he added.

Qureshi said reports about Indian railways authority’s decision to purchase and store rations for at least a week’s consumption to meet any crisis situation indicated that security situation in IOK was likely to deteriorate further.

There was, therefore, a pervasive sense of fear and anxiety among the Kashmiris in IoK, which continued to grow in the wake of these developments.