ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, on Thursday, strongly condemned extra-judicial killing of three more Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces in Shopian, in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) the other day.

According to a Foreign Office statement, the Indian occupation forces have martyred at least 40 Kashmiris in fake encounters and so-called “cordon and search operations” since 1 October 2021.

It stated that the military crackdown and the extra-judicial killings in fake encounters and staged operations in the IIOJK reflect the extremist anti-Muslim designs of the “Hindutva” inspired extremist BJP-RSS combine in India.

“Persisting with their callous behaviour and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, the Indian occupation forces are also refusing to hand over the mortal remains of the martyred Kashmiris to their families,” it stated, adding that it is also reprehensible that the BJP authorities in the IIOJK have denied Kashmiri Muslims their basic religious rights to offer Jumma prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid Srinagar for the last several weeks.

Through the statement, Pakistan called upon the international community to take immediate notice of India’s state-terrorism in the IIOJK, adding that India’s ongoing, systematic and widespread human rights violations in the IIOJK warrant investigation by a UN Commission of Inquiry, as recommended by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its reports of 2018 and 2019.

“Pakistan also urges the international community to play its role for a just and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people for durable peace and stability in the region,” it added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021