GENEVA: Pakistan on Thursday condemned India at the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council for evading questions on human rights in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and the treatment of minorities.
Exercising the right of reply to India, First Secretary Adeel M. Khokhar said India had adopted a “familiar pattern” of changing the subject and invoking Pakistan when confronted with uncomfortable facts.
“Let us make it clear: Jammu and Kashmir is not, and has never been, an integral part of India. It is a disputed territory, as recognised by the relevant Security Council resolutions. Repeated denials and unilateral measures cannot alter this reality,” he said.
The Pakistani delegate said India had avoided holding a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices in Jammu and Kashmir, and questioned the continued enforcement of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which he said shielded security forces from prosecution and amounted to a “licence for impunity”.
He said extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and torture of Kashmiris by Indian forces had been documented in reports by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). He also criticised the changes to domicile and land laws and the delimitation of constituencies in IIOJK since August 5, 2019.
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