Qureshi highlights India's human rights violations in IIOJK, asks OIC to facilitate resolution

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday that the oppressed people of Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) were now heavily reliant on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Muslim Ummah when it comes to their struggle.

Addressing a meeting of the OIC Contact Group in New York, Qureshi asked the forum to increase its efforts in facilitating a permanent solution to the Kashmir dispute. He urged the participants to raise the matter at all forums of the United Nations.

Qureshi, in his remarks, condemned Indian forces for using pellet guns, punishing Kashmiri political leaders, abducting children, and engaging in a killing campaign of Kashmiri youth in IIOJK.

Pakistan presents dossier on human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir

The foreign minister informed the participants that Pakistan had recently issued a comprehensive dossier detailing the atrocities and barbarism of Indian security forces in IIOJK.

“The 131-page dossier covers accounts of 3,432 victims of war crimes perpetrated by senior officers of Indian occupation forces. The crimes catalogued in the dossier are corroborated by video and audio evidence that we have meticulously gathered over time,” Qureshi told the session.

He asked the secretary-general of the OIC to share the dossier with all members of the organisation.

“There will be no peace in South Asia until the just and equitable resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with resolutions of UN and the wishes of Kashmiri people,” the foreign minister emphasised.

Qureshi also informed the forum about India’s policy to change the demographic structure of the IIOJK in an effort to eradicate the distinct identity of the Kashmir people.

Kashmiri resistance leader Syed Ali Geelani passes away

Talking about the Indian security forces' mistreatment of Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s body, Qureshi said Indian cruelty was visible from the handling of mortal remains of the “great leader” who passed recently after battling severe lung ailments and dementia.

“Despite his age and failing health, he was not allowed to seek medical treatment abroad. Even as his family mourned his loss and prepared for his funeral, a heavy contingent of Indian forces entered their home and forcibly snatched Geelani's body and denied him the last rites of a Muslim funeral and buried him at a non-descript place rather than the cemetery of martyrs,” added the minister

Qureshi appreciated OIC’s Contact Group for making an invaluable contribution in "galvanising global attention to the worsening situation" in the IIOJK.