Senator Mushahid Hussain and Dr Shezra Mansab Ali, MNA, who are currently visiting the United States as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Envoys on Kashmir met President of UN General Assembly Peter Thomson on Wednesday and handed over a dossier about human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir. Accompanied by Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN, the envoys, briefed Thomson about the grave threat to peace and security posed by the deteriorating human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir as a result of India's suppression of the Kashmiri freedom movement.
Dr Ali detailed the killings of innocent and peaceful Kashmiri demonstrators and injuries caused by the use of brute force by Indian occupation forces. She also told the PGA that the use of pellet guns, blinding hundreds including children, women and men, was a particularly barbaric manifestation of the use of force. Senator Mushahid Hussain, on the occasion, stated that India has stoked the war hysteria to distract world attention from its brutal action to suppress the legitimate demand of the Kashmiri people for self determination.
He stressed that the ongoing movement was indigenous and was sparked by the extra-judicial killing of youth leader and icon, Burhan Wani. He said that India has closed all doors to bilateral dialogue, scuttled a regional summit and at the international level, refused to implement Security Council resolutions. The President of the General Assembly expressed concern at the situation and assured the visiting Envoys that he would do everything possible to "foster peace". He also said that he would get an update on the current situation from the UN Department of Peace Keeping Operations. Senator Mushahid also informed the President of the General Assembly that India has raised the temperature on the line of control and this escalation confronted the region with an increasing danger to peace.
The two Special Envoys also briefed the officials of the Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO) on accelerating tensions along the Line of Control. They reiterated Prime Minister's proposal to expand operations of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to avoid such situations. The DPKO officials briefed the Special Envoys on the continued non-cooperation by the Indian side, hampering the mandated work of the UN Mission. They were greatly appreciative of Pakistan's cooperation with the Mission, and its role as one of the world's top troop contributors to UN Peace Keeping Missions.
The two Parliamentarians earlier had an interactive session with representatives of the Kashmiri diaspora. Senator Hussain assured them of Pakistan's continued moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri cause in their quest for their right to self-determination.
He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had dispatched Special envoys to major capitals of the world to apprise the international community of the deplorable human rights situation in occupied Kashmir and to garner support for the Kashmiri struggle for their right to self- determination.