NEW YORK: Taking issue with New Delhi’s contention that Indian-occupied Kashmir is an internal issue, Pakistan reminded its archrival the Himalayan territory was an internationally recognised region.
“Jammu and Kashmir neither is a so-called integral part of India nor is it India’s internal matter,” Saima Saleem, a counsellor at Pakistan’s mission to the world body, said in response to Sneha Dubey, a first secretary at India’s UN mission.
Ms. Saima Saleem @SSaima11 exercising right of reply by 🇵🇰 at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly #UNGA #UNGA76 https://t.co/jobY95fb4a
— Permanent Mission of Pakistan to UN, NY (@PakistanUN_NY) September 25, 2021
“India remains in occupation of an internationally recognized disputed territory whose final disposition needs to be decided in accordance with the democratic principle of a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices, as provided for under numerous resolutions of the Security Council.”
Dubey, while exercising her right of reply to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement, also made sweeping allegations about Pakistan’s involvement in terrorism, claiming Islamabad has adopted a “policy of harbouring, aiding and actively supporting terrorists”.
But Saleem observed India’s use of the “canard of terrorism, regurgitating stale arguments are typical of all occupiers”.
“Let me emphasise that India itself is the principal perpetrator, sponsor, financier and abettor of terrorism in the region,” she said, adding New Delhi was involved in at least four different types of terrorism.
“Resorting to “state terrorism” to suppress the people of Kashmir; funding and supporting terrorist organisations like the TTP which conducts numerous cross-border terrorist attacks against Pakistan; financing and organizing mercenary terrorist organisations against Pakistan to impede economic growth and prosperity of the region, and it’s supremacist ideology has mainstreamed Islamophobia and bigotry against minorities, particularly Muslims.”
India’s violations of human rights in occupied Kashmir, Saleem said, were well documented in the two reports of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, as also by major human rights organisations, but New Delhi has failed to respond to their findings.
Pakistan has recently released a comprehensive and well-researched dossier containing the entire range of gross, systematic and widespread violations of rights being perpetrated by Indian security forces in the occupied region, she said.
“We call upon the international community to take cognizance of the compelling evidence and hold India accountable for the heinous crimes.
“If India has nothing to hide, it must accept a UN Commission of Inquiry and agree to implement the Security Council resolutions stipulating a plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their right to self-determination,” the diplomat added.
“The Indian delegation would do well to reflect on the deeply troubling trajectory their state is embarked upon, rather than indulging in patent falsehoods about Pakistan,” she said.
