‘EU concerned over rights violations in occupied Kashmir’

AJK premier says he presented the Kashmir case in new dimension before European authorities

MIRPUR: There are concerns in the European Union about human rights violations and the use of pellet guns by the Indian troops on Kashmiri protesters in occupied Kashmir, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider said on Monday.

Talking to reporters at Kashmir House after a week-long visit to European Union (EU), the AJK premier said that he had urged the European Union (EU) to probe the discovery of mass graves in Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Giving details of the trip, Haider said he had tried to present the Kashmir issue before EU in a new dimension. He explained that it is the fundamental right of Kashmiris to decide their future by exercising their right to self-determination.

Haider said he explained it to the EU authorities that resolution of Kashmir dispute was imperative for durable peace in South Asia.

Pakistan, Haider said, cannot remain oblivious to the brutalities carried out by Indian forces in Kashmir.

“If war breaks out between India and Pakistan, it will have devastating impact on the region and also affect nations around the world,” he said.

Haider added that he had called upon the EU to send a fact finding mission in to the occupied Kashmir to analyse the bleak human rights scenario in the territory.

The AJK PM claimed that the Indian Army was intentionally targeting civilians living near the Line of Control (LoC), adding that many civilians had fallen victims to Indian cross-border firing in just the past two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2016.