Kashmiris demand UN resolution implementation

Kashmiris living in Europe staged a protest demonstration outside the United Nations Office in here on Friday, urging the international community to press for an immediate end to alleged human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and calling on the UN to implement its pending resolutions on the disputed territory to bring peace in South Asia.

The protest was organised by the International Kashmir Peace Forum (IKPF) and led by its Chairman Zahid Hashmi who travelled from Paris to Geneva along with hundreds of other Kashmiris.

Chairman IKPF Hashmi said India was violating basic human rights in IIOJK.

Describing the Kashmiri people's right to self-determination as an inalienable and non-negotiable right, Hashmi urged the UN Security Council to take effective steps towards implementing its resolutions recognising the people of Jammu and Kashmir's right to determine their political future.

Voicing serious concern over what he described as India's "imperialist designs" in the region, the IKPF chairman said the Indian government's pursuit of a Hindu nationalist agenda in IIOJK including land acquisition, interference in religious affairs and demographic engineering, was aimed at altering the demographic composition of the territory.

He also condemned India's continued use of what he described as repressive laws, including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and the Public Safety Act (PSA).

Hashmi said these laws were frequently used by Indian authorities to silence civil society activists, human rights defenders and political leaders.

He expressed serious concern over what he described as the systematic suppression of political dissent in IIOJK, saying political leaders, activists and human rights defenders continued to face harassment, intimidation and prolonged detention.