Islamabad nudges UN veto club on Kashmir
UNSC members ask to call on India to respect human rights; death toll continues to rise
UNSC members ask to call on India to respect human rights; death toll continues to rise. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Tuesday approached the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council to take notice of the deteriorating situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and call on New Delhi to respect human rights in the violence-wrecked disputed Himalayan territory.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry briefed ambassadors of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, including China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, over the tense situation in IOK.
Kashmir unrest sparks Pak-India diplomatic spat
He expressed Pakistan’s serious concern over the ‘brutal killings of civilians’ and violation of their other fundamental rights by India’s security forces, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
The violence erupted in the disputed valley after Indian security forces killed prominent Kashmiri separatist leader Bhurhan Wani last Friday. Since then at least 32 people – mostly civilians – have been killed in the region.
The foreign secretary informed the envoys that civilians protesting the killing of Wani were killed due to the excessive use of force by Indian security forces. India should conduct a fair and transparent inquiry against the individuals responsible for these killings, he said.
“The foreign secretary urged the international community, particularly the permanent members of the Security Council, to take notice of the gravity of the situation in IOK, call on India to respect human rights of the people of IOK and implement the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,” the Foreign Office said.
He also rejected Indian attempts to claim that the deteriorating human rights situation in IOK was an internal affair of India and emphasised the disputed nature of Jammu and Kashmir awaiting the implementation of the UNSC resolutions.
Chaudhry said killings of innocent Kashmiri people could not be condoned under the pretext of terrorism. He observed that the just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination could not be equated with terrorism.
Pakistan conveys ‘serious concerns’ over Kashmir killings to Indian high commissioner
Such inhumane and oppressive measures cannot deter the valiant people of Jammu and Kashmir from their demand of exercising their right to self-determination in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
In Lahore meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif convened on Friday a special meeting of his cabinet to discuss the “rapidly deteriorating situation in IOK”, according to his office.
“The cabinet will discuss the oppressive actions of Indian security forces against innocent civilians and the overall situation in Kashmir after the brutal assassination of Burhan Wani,” it said in a statement. PML-N leaders told The Express Tribune that the cabinet would finalise its strategy in the meeting.
A day earlier India’s high commissioner was summoned to the Foreign Office to lodge a formal protest over human rights violations in the disputed region. New Delhi dismissed Pakistan’s protest as ‘interference in its internal affairs’.
The death toll from four days of violence in IOK, which remains under curfew, has risen to 32 with hundreds other hospitalized for gunshot wounds. The main hospital in Srinagar struggled to treat hundreds of patients on Tuesday, as medics warned that many could lose their eyesight from shotgun injuries.
Ambulances continued to deliver more victims to the Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) where patients were sometimes forced to share beds. An administrator said staff had been ordered not to speak to the press but wards were crammed with young boys and men, many of whom had suffered serious eye injuries caused by the firing of pellets by Indian troops.
PPP censures govt for its ‘silence’ on Kashmir
An AFP correspondent who toured the teeming wards saw two patients to a bed, as doctors worked non-stop. “Doctors are working in operating theatres round-the-clock. We’ve operated on 90 for serious eye injuries since Saturday morning,” said a doctor in SMHS where many volunteers were helping to tend to the injured.
“Most of them have lost their eyesight in one eye. They are going to walk out of the hospital as one-eyed boys,” the doctor added.
A senior state administrator said at least 1,000 people have been injured in the clashes. Much of the worst violence has been in the south of the capital Srinagar where security forces have used live fire, non-lethal pellet guns as well as tear gas to disperse crowds.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting of his cabinet and voiced concern over the incidents of violence in the disputed valley, according to the Gulf News. “The PM has appealed to the people to maintain peace so that no innocent lives are disturbed,” Jitendra Singh, the minister of state in the prime minister’s Office told reporters.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2016.
Pakistan on Tuesday approached the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council to take notice of the deteriorating situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and call on New Delhi to respect human rights in the violence-wrecked disputed Himalayan territory.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry briefed ambassadors of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, including China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, over the tense situation in IOK.
Kashmir unrest sparks Pak-India diplomatic spat
He expressed Pakistan’s serious concern over the ‘brutal killings of civilians’ and violation of their other fundamental rights by India’s security forces, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
The violence erupted in the disputed valley after Indian security forces killed prominent Kashmiri separatist leader Bhurhan Wani last Friday. Since then at least 32 people – mostly civilians – have been killed in the region.
The foreign secretary informed the envoys that civilians protesting the killing of Wani were killed due to the excessive use of force by Indian security forces. India should conduct a fair and transparent inquiry against the individuals responsible for these killings, he said.
“The foreign secretary urged the international community, particularly the permanent members of the Security Council, to take notice of the gravity of the situation in IOK, call on India to respect human rights of the people of IOK and implement the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,” the Foreign Office said.
He also rejected Indian attempts to claim that the deteriorating human rights situation in IOK was an internal affair of India and emphasised the disputed nature of Jammu and Kashmir awaiting the implementation of the UNSC resolutions.
Chaudhry said killings of innocent Kashmiri people could not be condoned under the pretext of terrorism. He observed that the just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination could not be equated with terrorism.
Pakistan conveys ‘serious concerns’ over Kashmir killings to Indian high commissioner
Such inhumane and oppressive measures cannot deter the valiant people of Jammu and Kashmir from their demand of exercising their right to self-determination in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
In Lahore meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif convened on Friday a special meeting of his cabinet to discuss the “rapidly deteriorating situation in IOK”, according to his office.
“The cabinet will discuss the oppressive actions of Indian security forces against innocent civilians and the overall situation in Kashmir after the brutal assassination of Burhan Wani,” it said in a statement. PML-N leaders told The Express Tribune that the cabinet would finalise its strategy in the meeting.
A day earlier India’s high commissioner was summoned to the Foreign Office to lodge a formal protest over human rights violations in the disputed region. New Delhi dismissed Pakistan’s protest as ‘interference in its internal affairs’.
The death toll from four days of violence in IOK, which remains under curfew, has risen to 32 with hundreds other hospitalized for gunshot wounds. The main hospital in Srinagar struggled to treat hundreds of patients on Tuesday, as medics warned that many could lose their eyesight from shotgun injuries.
Ambulances continued to deliver more victims to the Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) where patients were sometimes forced to share beds. An administrator said staff had been ordered not to speak to the press but wards were crammed with young boys and men, many of whom had suffered serious eye injuries caused by the firing of pellets by Indian troops.
PPP censures govt for its ‘silence’ on Kashmir
An AFP correspondent who toured the teeming wards saw two patients to a bed, as doctors worked non-stop. “Doctors are working in operating theatres round-the-clock. We’ve operated on 90 for serious eye injuries since Saturday morning,” said a doctor in SMHS where many volunteers were helping to tend to the injured.
“Most of them have lost their eyesight in one eye. They are going to walk out of the hospital as one-eyed boys,” the doctor added.
A senior state administrator said at least 1,000 people have been injured in the clashes. Much of the worst violence has been in the south of the capital Srinagar where security forces have used live fire, non-lethal pellet guns as well as tear gas to disperse crowds.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting of his cabinet and voiced concern over the incidents of violence in the disputed valley, according to the Gulf News. “The PM has appealed to the people to maintain peace so that no innocent lives are disturbed,” Jitendra Singh, the minister of state in the prime minister’s Office told reporters.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2016.