India rejects UN human rights report on Kashmir as fallacious, Pak welcomes probe proposal

“References to human rights concerns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan should in no way be construed to create a false sense of equivalence with the gross and systematic human rights violations in IoK,” the statement said.

By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Updated: June 14, 2018 5:56:25 pm

Pakistan said that “this proposal is consistent with Pakistan’s several calls to this effect since 2016″. (Reuters Photo)

India on Thursday rejected the United Nations report on “human rights situation in Kashmir” calling it ” fallacious, tendentious and motivated,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. Adding that the report is a “selective compilation of largely unverified statements,” the Ministry said that the report “violates India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and “questioned the intent” behind it. “The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression,” it added.

In a first of its kind report on the alleged human rights violations, the United Nations sought an international inquiry into these abuses. Asserting that there was an “urgent need” to address the past and ongoing human rights violations, the report said, “any resolution to the political situation in Kashmir should entail a commitment to ending the cycles of violence and accountability for past and current human rights violations.”

Adding that “people on both sides of the Line of Control have been detrimentally impacted and suffer from limitations or denial of a range of human rights,” the report also asked neighbouring country Pakistan to end its “misuse” of anti-terror legislation to quash dissent.

“Despite the Government of Pakistan’s assertions of denial of any support to these groups, experts believe that Pakistan’s military continues to support their operations across the Line of Control in Indian-Administered Kashmir,” the global human rights watch body said.

This is for the first time the UNHRC has issued a report on the alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has “welcomed the proposal by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish a Commission of Inquiry for international investigation into human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IoK)”.

Pakistan said that “this proposal is consistent with Pakistan’s several calls to this effect since 2016, even as India has continued to ignore legitimate demands for probe into gross and systematic violations, including pellet guns excessive use of force, arbitrary arrest and detentions as well as continued sexual violence as part of overall impunity enjoyed by Indian security forces”. Also Read: India rejects UN human rights report on Kashmir, terms it ‘motivated, fallacious’

“The report by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR) clearly stipulates that its main focus is on the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. The contents, scale and the narrative of killings, maiming, abuse and impunity articulated in the report is a reaffirmation of what Pakistan has long highlighted for the international community,” a statement said.

“References to human rights concerns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan should in no way be construed to create a false sense of equivalence with the gross and systematic human rights violations in IoK,” the statement said.

“OHCHR’s Report has rightly called for final political solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute through meaningful dialogue that includes the people of Kashmir. The lasting solution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute is an essential imperative for peace, security and stability of South Asia and beyond. India’s continued denial of this imperative, its unwillingness to engage in a dialogue process with Pakistan and suppression of Kashmiri aspirations for freedom continue to endanger regional and international peace and security,” the statement said.

“The United Nations has a key role to play in the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Within the ambit of peace and security, the UN Security Council remains seized of numerous resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. The OCHCR report is a reminder of this internationally recognized dispute and the urgency of its settlement both to protect human lives and promote peace”.

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App