World community, US must intervene to prevent Indian atrocities in Kashmir

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Chaudhry called on the international community, including the United States, to urge India to respect the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people and demanded that New Delhi must immediately allow human rights organizations’ access to the occupied valley.

He was speaking to a representative delegation of Kashmiri Americans at the Embassy to brief them about the continuing grave human rights situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), especially since the simultaneous extra-judicial murders of 20 Kashmiri youths in various parts of South Kashmir on April 1.

The ambassador also separately met US and Pakistani media persons to brief them on Pakistan’s position and the need for the international community to fulfill their responsibility to ensure fundamental rights to the Kashmiri people.

He reiterated demands by the Pakistan government that India must immediately halt its campaign of torture against civilians in the occupied territory and allow international human rights organizations access to the held valley to determine the extent of brutalities in various parts of Kashmir.

He reminded the international community including the United States, of their responsibility to unequivocally urge India to respect the fundamental human rights of the people living under its occupation.

The ambassador paid tribute to Kashmiris who, despite India’s ongoing campaign of brutality, came out in large number on the streets of Kashmir for peaceful protest and raised their voice against indiscriminate killings of Kashmiri young men in fake encounters.

He regretted that instead of listening to these protesters, the Indian government had resorted to indiscriminate use of force. As had happened in the recent past, the ambassador said, occupying Indian security forces used live munitions and blinding pellet guns to silence the peaceful protest against their unbridled violence.

Ambassador Chaudhry said that India refused to learn from the past that its unrelenting violence against Kashmiris had only strengthened their resolve to stand up for their rights.

Urging the international community to fulfill its obligations, he said that the United Nations and the members of its Security Council should honour their commitment made with the people of Kashmir more than seven decades ago to allow them an opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination through an impartial plebiscite.

The ambassador assured the delegation that Pakistan remains committed to achieving peace and stability in South Asia through peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The delegation of the Kashmiri American nationals thanked the government and the people of Pakistan for their continued moral, diplomatic and political support to the legitimate struggle for the right to self-determination by the oppressed people of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

They resolved to raise the present precarious human rights situation in the IoK at various fora in the US, including the Administration and the Congress.