OIC's IPHRC team visits AJK

A high-ranking delegation of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of OIC visited Azad Jammu and Kashmir to gather first-hand information with regard to Indian brutalities and human rights violations in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir. According to Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, the IPHRC delegation led by the Chairperson Med S Kaggwa is visiting Pakistan and AJK to gain a better understanding of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and to interact with the refugees from the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir who escaped Indian atrocities.
India so far has not responded to the IPHRC's request for access to IoK to assess the human rights situation there, he added. During the visit to AJK, he said that the IPHRC delegation called on the President and the Prime Minister of AJK who briefed them on the intensified, ongoing human rights violations against innocent Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces in IoK.
The delegation was told that the situation has aggravated since July, 2016 and the use of live ammunition and pellet guns by Indian forces against defenceless civilians has left more than 150 innocent civilians martyred, 20,000 injured and scores of people, including young girls and children, blind.
While IPHRC delegation was in AJK, the spokesperson said that Indian occupation forces in IoK martyred four more innocent and defenceless Kashmiris, including three teenagers, which they noted. The government of Pakistan strongly condemned the martyrdom of four Kashmiris in IoK and injuries inflicted on scores of others, he added.
He said that the delegation also visited refugee camps and interacted with Kashmiri refugees who had migrated from IoK to escape Indian atrocities. "The people of AJK are strongly distressed at the plight of their relatives in IoK. Indian barbarities are a cause of deep anguish and pain for the Kashmiris," he said, adding the divided families are unable to share moments of joy and sorrow and are forced to witness marriages and funerals from afar.
He further said that the members of the delegation also interacted with Hurriyat leadership, who briefed them about the situation in IoK. The delegation was informed that Indian occupation forces prevent people from offering Friday prayers and children from attending schools, he added.
Hurriyat leadership either remains imprisoned or under house arrest, he said, adding the IoK is one of the most heavily militarised zones on the planet with one soldier to every 17 civilians. The delegation was also briefed about Indian attempts to divert the attention of the international community from the blatant human rights violations in IoK through repeated and unprovoked ceasefire violations.
He said that the IPHRC has a standing mechanism to monitor the gross human rights violations in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. "India continues to deny international bodies' access to IoK," he said, adding the visit is a manifestation of Pakistan's commitment to unflinching political, moral and diplomatic support to the just cause of the oppressed people of IoK towards realisation of the right to self-determination promised to them under the UN Security Council resolutions.