Foreign Desk Report
GENEVA: Turkey on Monday raised the Kashmir issue at the United Nations Human Rights Council, with a call for resolving the decades-old dispute on the basis of UN resolutions and the “legitimate” expectations of Kashmiri people who are struggling for their right of self-determination. “We reiterate our call to the Government of India to ease current restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the 47-member Council in Geneva.
“We wish for the resolution of the issue through peaceful means on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions and the legitimate expectations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the Turkish foreign added.
The Council on Monday began its month-long, 46th session, which is being held almost entirely remotely to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In Washington, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary-General of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum, welcomed Cavusoglu’s remarks about the deteriorating situation in Indian occupied Kashmir.
“This has been the consistent policy of the Erdogan administration to sensitize the world opinion to help bring parties concerned together to resolve the Kashmir dispute for the sake of peace and security not only in Kashmir but in the region of South Asia,” he said.
“The people of Jammu & Kashmir were heartened to listen to Mr. Cavusoglu explaining before the world body the principle aspect of the Kashmir issue,” Dr. Fai said. He added that the time has come for the world powers to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. While, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent watchdog body, has called on authorities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) to drop their investigations into the work of journalists Yashraj Sharma, Mir Junaid, and Sajad Gul and let them to report without interference.
On January 31, the IIOJK authorities opened criminal investigations into Sharma, a reporter at The Kashmirwalla news website, and Junaid, a reporter at The Kashmiriyat news website, for alleged incitement, according to news reports. On February 12, police began investigation into Gul, a freelance journalist who contributes to The Kashmirwalla, for allegedly taking part in an illegal demonstration against home demolitions, the reports said.
“Journalists Yashraj Sharma, Mir Junaid, and Sajad Gul should be allowed to do their jobs without harassment, intimidation, and criminal investigations from Kashmiri authorities,” Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ’s senior Asia researcher, said in a statement. “Jammu and Kashmir Police must drop their investigations into all three journalists and stop targeting journalists because of their reporting.”
Both Shah and Shibli told CPJ that their reporters were not given copies of the complaint, and they found out about the police investigation through social media. If charged and convicted, Sharma and Junaid could face up to three years in prison. On February 2, a court rejected Shah and Sharma’s petition for pre-emptive bail, which would exempt the journalists from detention during the investigation, and both are now petitioning Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Shah told CPJ.
