By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has made a telephonic conversation with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to update him on the deteriorating situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK), media reported on Friday.
At the outset, the secretary-general expressed his deep condolences on the crash of PIA 8303 flight and tragic loss of life. The Foreign Minister thanked for the condolences and added that the situation was evolving with respect to possible casualties. With regard to the situation in IOJK, he conveyed Pakistan’s deep concerns over the grave violations of human rights and intensified military crack-down and moves to change the demographic structure of the occupied valley.
In this regard, Shah Mehmood Qureshi alluded to the recent domicile law in IOJK, which was in violation of relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention, read the press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
The foreign minister deplored that in the garb of COVID-19 crisis, India was imposing even more stringent lockdown in the occupied territory and further brutalizing the Kashmiri population through fake “encounters” and phony cordon-and-search operations, extrajudicial killings, and other repressive measures.
He underlined that in order to divert the world’s attention from its internal problems, continued repression by occupation forces in IOJK, rising tide of hatred, racism and Islamophobia against Muslim minority, India may resort to some “false flag” operation and undertake another misadventure. Pakistan had been fore-warning the world community in this regard, and would respond effectively to thwart any such ill-considered move. Qureshi reiterated that Pakistan remained ready to allow United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to authenticate the claim regarding the so-called civic information.
The in allegations were primarily meant to defame the indigenous Kashmir resistance, which was a direct consequence of India’s oppression and brutalization of Kashmiris, said Qureshi. The belligerent statements of the Indian political and military establishment were posing threats to peace and security in the region, the foreign minister added.
