ISLAMABAD: Pakistan strongly condemned another abhorrent attempt of the Indian government to deprive the Kashmiri people of their true leadership in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
In a highly reprehensible development, Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik convicted on Thursday in a manifestly dubious and motivated case, dating back to 2017, filed against him by National Investigation Agency (NIA).
“Predictably, the one-sided case has not only convicted Yasin Malik on fictitious charges in defiance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) but also attempted to make conjectural insinuations about Pakistan,” Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said in a statement.
He said that the renewed haste with which cases against Kashmiri leadership are being pursued further exposes the nefarious Indian designs to undermine historic and distinct political and cultural identity of IIOJK.
“The conviction of Yasin Malik and conjuring up of motivated cases against the Kashmiri leadership is patently the continuation of the malicious Indian campaign to deprive the Kashmiris of their true leadership,” he said.
The inhuman incarceration of Yasin Malik in the infamous Tihar jail, he added that his sham trial in concocted cases, fallacious conviction, and malfeasant attempts at defiling the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris for their right to self-determination as “terrorism” further illustrate India as a serial violator of human rights and usurper of the fundamental rights of the Kashmiris.
He added that the struggle for the right of self-determination in Kashmir is indigenous and cannot be dampened by the draconian strong-arm tactics of the Indian government.
“Pakistan urges the Indian government to refrain from victimizing the true representatives of the Kashmiri people through inhuman detentions and trumped up charges,” he added.
He stated that India must release all political prisoners detained on trumped-up charges, stop human rights violations in IIOJK, lift the brutal military siege, and let the Kashmiri people exercise their right to self-determination in accordance with their aspirations and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
“Pakistan also urges the international community to counsel India to drop all fabricated charges against all political leaders of IIOJK including Yasin Malik, ensure their safety and well-being, and provide them complete legal protections, including the right to a free and fair trial,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022