Speakers shine spotlight on IOJ&K situation

he seminar was organized by Information Ministry to mark the the 'International Day in Support of Victims of Torture'

ISLAMABAD: The international community was on Friday urged to realize the gravity of the situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IO&JK) and to take immediate steps to pressurize India to stop its gross human rights violations in the disputed Himalayan territory.

This was stated by the Federal Secretary Information and Broadcasting Akbar Durrani on Friday while speaking at a seminar on "Humans without Human Rights in IOJK". The seminar was organized by the Information Ministry to mark the the 'International Day in Support of Victims of Torture'.

The information secretary said the seminar was not only a manifestation of Pakistani nation's commitment to the Kashmir cause but also a testimony of their unflinching support for the Kashmiri people and their struggle for self-determination.

Pakistan was seeking justice for the hapless Kashmiri victims of Indian aggression, he added. He asked the United Nations and the international community to take notice of the genocide of innocent Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces and to take measures to stop it.

Since August last year, he said, the situation in IO&JK had aggravated when India unilaterally abolished two articles of its constitution depriving the Kashmiris of limited autonomy. Now the Kashmiris were living in an open prison after New Delhi imposed a lockdown there much before the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) emerged.

The history of IO&JK, he said, was, unfortunately "a tale of lies and deceits" on part of Indian rulers who utilized all available means to continue their illegal occupation of the state.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2020.