Pakistan urges UN to help children of IOK

Updated 04 Jul, 2020

GENEVA: Pakistan has urged the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children to remain seized on plight of Kashmiri children in Indian Occupied Kashmir and call on India to halt its grave atrocities against them.

In its statement during interactive session at the 44th Human Rights Council session, with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Pakistan said that SRSG's concerns resonate with the grisly situation of children in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which has further aggravated since 5th of August last year.

The statement said the world saw heart-breaking picture and video clips of a 3-year old Kashmiri boy, crying and sitting on dead body of his grandfather, who was summarily executed by the Indian occupation forces.

"We urge the Special Representative to remain seized of the situation of the Kashmiri children in the occupied territory, and call on India to halt its grave atrocities against them, in compliance with its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian laws," the statement quoted Ambassador Khalil Hashmir as having said.

It said this image sums up India's State-sanctioned terrorization of Kashmiri children, and life-long impact of such terror.

"Militarily cooped up in their homes under the suffocating 'double' lockdown, over 1.5 million Kashmiri children have endured the worst form of violence which the contemporary world has yet to witness," Hashmi said.

Recalling that in August last year, the renowned medical magazine "Lancet" alerted the world community that in wake of India's heavy militarization of the occupied territory, the mental health crisis there will only worsen, disproportionately affecting women and children, the Pakistani envoy said, "Nearly a year later, the situation seems even grimmer."

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