Kashmir at UNSC

While UN is calling out India for its human rights record, India is conducting fresh abuses of its minorities

The United Nations Security Council has called out India over human rights abuses in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) as well as New Delhi’s attempts to change the demographic makeup of the region. The Security Council met to discuss the situation in Kashmir after a request was made by Pakistan. It was the third meeting on Kashmir since India revoked special status for the disputed region last year. Incidentally, the meeting was held on the first anniversary of India’s illegal annexation of the IIOJK.

According to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the closed-doors meeting also received briefings from the UN Secretariat and the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan. Qureshi says the UN urged steps to avoid escalating tensions but reminded that India took the first aggressive step and then refused to hold talks, despite Pakistan’s willingness to do so. He also called out India’s attempts to claim the UN has no role in the issue. Beyond the meeting, Qureshi has also drawn attention towards increased ceasefire violations by India since the start of its aggressive actions in occupied Kashmir.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has also called out India for acting like its potential as the world’s biggest market gives it the right to ignore justifiable criticism. Unfortunately, while the UN is calling out India for its human rights record, India’s leadership is busy conducting fresh abuses of its minorities. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among a host of current and former BJP leaders that gathered to mark the groundbreaking of a temple on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid. They were also joined by leaders of the terrorist-adjacent RSS, which grooms young children into electable adult criminals such as Modi and most of his inner circle.

In its reaction, Pakistan’s Foreign Office notes that “a temple built on the site of a historic mosque will remain a blot on the face of the so-called Indian democracy for the times to come.” We must add that it is also a crippling attack on India’s status as a supposedly secular state, especially since their prime minister was front and centre at the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2020.

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