-FO urges world to hold India accountable for brutalities in IIOJK
-Strongly slams continuous killings by Indian Forces in occupied Kashmir
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday strongly condemned the extrajudicial killings of six more Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
“Pakistan strongly condemns extrajudicial killings of six more Kashmiri youth in IIOJK by Indian occupation forces in the last three days in continuing fake encounters and so-called cordon-and-search-operations,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.
He said a 19 years old student was martyred Sunday by Indian occupation forces with impunity in Islamabad, IIOJK. At least 18 Kashmiris have been martyred by Indian occupation forces in the month of December so far.
The spokesperson said the occupation army had intensified arbitrary detentions, night raids, coercion, harassment and humiliation of Kashmiris, and the extra-judicial killings in staged encounters and cordon-and-search operations continue unabated.
He said the burial of the last remains of martyrs at unknown locations since April last year, without the consent and presence of their families, was yet another abhorrent manifestation of the callous behavior and moral bankruptcy of BJP-RSS combine.
He said India should be well aware that no amount of oppression and use of force could break the will of the valiant Kashmiri people who were resolutely standing up against India’s state-terrorism in IIOJK, and struggling for their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The spokesperson reiterated Pakistan’s call on the international community to hold India accountable for its grave and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in IIOJK. The violations must be investigated by an independent Commission of Inquiry as recommended by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its reports of 2018 and 2019, he added.
Earlier, Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned the extra-judicial killing of another five Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces in the Kulgam area.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Indian troops killed five more youth during their cordon and search operations in Pombai and Gopalpora areas of Kulgam district on Wednesday, taking the number of slain youth in the territory to nine in the last four days.
The troops had brutally killed four civilians in a fake encounter in Hyderpora area of Srinagar on Monday night. Indian forces have martyred at least 30 Kashmiris in fake encounters or so-called “cordon and search operations” since October 1, 2021.
In a strong reaction to the Narendra Modi government’s state terrorism, the Foreign Office said the killing spree of innocent Kashmiris perpetuated by Indian occupation forces continues with shameless impunity.
It further exposes the unspeakable violence being perpetrated by the “Hindutva” inspired extremist BJP-RSS combination that has turned IoK into an inferno where no one, not even innocent civilians, professionals, women, children and the elderly are safe from the state-terrorism of the occupation forces, it added.
The FO condemned the inhuman and callous practice of the Indian occupation forces of not handing over the mortal remains of the martyred Kashmiris to their families in various instances.
“Usurping the fundamental rights of Kashmiri families by denying them the right of proper burial of martyrs further exposes the current Indian government’s moral bankruptcy,” it said.
The FO said the killings of Kashmiri civilians by Indian occupation forces also vindicates the irrefutable facts provided by Pakistan recently in a comprehensive dossier exposing human rights violations and war crimes committed by Indian occupation forces in IoK.
It said Pakistan called on the international community to take immediate notice of the Indian state-terrorism in occupied Kashmir and holds it accountable for the egregious human rights violations of innocent Kashmiris.
“Pakistan also urges the international community to play its role for a just and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people for durable peace and stability in the region,” it said.
‘Give me my husband’s body’
The families of those killed by Indian forces have accused them of murdering them in “cold blood” after taking them into a business centre to help the search for insurgents. “Today it happened to us, tomorrow it can happen to anyone,” said Abdul Majeed Bhat, whose brother Mohammad owned the building and was killed in the incident.
“We’ll not rest until my brother’s body is returned to us,” Bhat told AFP. “I appeal to every Kashmiri to protest for the same.” Wednesday’s protest continued after dark with a candlelight vigil, despite the freezing winter cold in Srinagar.
Humaira Mudasir, whose husband Mudasir Ahmed Gul was also killed Monday, was among the crowd and cradling her one-year-old daughter in her lap.
“Give me my husband’s body. Give me proof of his involvement (with militants). He was murdered unarmed,” she told reporters.
Earlier, Pakistan strongly condemned the arrest of over 1,400 Kashmiris on orchestrated charges by the Indian occupied forces in one of the biggest ever crackdowns in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK).
In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said that these arbitrary arrests and detentions by the Indian forces are prime examples of New Delhi’s state terrorism and trampling of fundamental human rights in IOJK.
He maintained that the recent surge in extra-judicial killings, staged cordon-and-search operations, and arbitrary arrests in IOJK are a source of serious alarm for the international community.
Last month, Pakistan unveiled a comprehensive dossier comprising irrefutable evidence of gross and systematic human rights violations, war crimes, and false flag operations in the occupied valley being carried out by Indian occupation forces with impunity.
The spokesperson said that India must recognise that no amount of brutalities committed against the Kashmiris can suppress their voice and their legitimate movement to achieve their inalienable right to self-determination. “Nor will India’s illegal and unlawful actions be able to mislead the world into accepting India’s false narrative against the Kashmiris,” he added.
