A file photo of a protest in Indian-occupied Kashmir. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Wednesday noted with grave concern the latest findings by the United Nations Special Procedures experts regarding India’s illegal measures in the Indian Illegally-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The report, issued on November 24, once again underscores the severe and systematic human rights violations endured by Kashmiris under Indian occupation, according to a press statement issued by the Foreign Office spokesperson.
It added that Pakistan notes with alarm the experts’ observations that India’s actions have resulted in the extensive arbitrary arrest and detention of nearly 2,800 individuals, including journalists, students, and human rights advocates.
The persistent application of draconian legislation, such as the Public Safety Act (PSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), has facilitated indefinite and unjustifiable detentions.
Instances of torture, custodial deaths, incommunicado detention, denial of due legal process and family contact, punitive demolitions and forced evictions, recurring communication blackouts, and suppression of press freedom — including the blocking of 8,000 social media accounts — as well as the rise in hate speech, lynching, and harassment directed at Kashmiris and Muslim communities across India, are equally deplorable and deeply troubling.
The Foreign Office spokesperson further pointed out that these findings reaffirm Pakistan’s longstanding concerns regarding state-sponsored persecution of Kashmiri Muslims as well as discrimination against minorities across India.
Pakistan called upon India to cease its coercive measures and to unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained in IIOJK. We further urge India to take concrete steps to end the persecution of all religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians.
Pakistan reiterates its commitment to a peaceful, just, and enduring resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. “We urge India to halt its repressive policies, reverse demographic and legal alterations, restore fundamental freedoms, and engage sincerely in meaningful dialogue.”
Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their just struggle against foreign occupation, the statement added.
UN experts on Monday raised the alarm over “serious human rights violations” in Indian-occupied Kashmir by the government of India in the aftermath of a terror attack in Pahalgam in April this year, for which Delhi blamed Islamabad without any evidence.
The UN experts’ findings had noted that Indian forces arrested more than 2,000 Kashmiris and demolished several homes in a sweeping crackdown in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.
They further highlighted reports of punitive house demolitions, forced evictions and arbitrary displacement, and noted that some detainees were allegedly tortured, held incommunicado, and denied access to lawyers and family members.
“These measures are disproportionate restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” the experts noted.
