In a strong reaction, India on Thursday rejected a UN report alleging human rights violations in Kashmir as “fallacious, tendentious and motivated”. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the report is “overtly prejudiced” and seeks to build a “false narrative”.
Response by @MEAIndia :
“India rejects the report. It is fallacious, tendentious and motivated. We question the intent in bringing out such a report.
It is a selective compilation of largely unverified information. It is overtly prejudiced and seeks to build a false narrative.” pic.twitter.com/r37KpW1FAU— India at UN, Geneva (@IndiaUNGeneva) June 14, 2018
The government even questioned the intent in bringing out such a report. “It is a selective compilation of largely unverified information. It is overtly prejudiced and seeks to build a false narrative,” slammed a MEA statement.
“The report violates India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in an illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression. We have repeatedly called upon Pakistan to vacate the occupied territories. The incorrect description of Indian Territory in the report is mischievous, misleading and unacceptable. There are no entities such as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” and “Gilgit-Baltistan,” stated MEA.
The MEA called the report as a motivated campaign and protested against the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “Our protest and views in the matter have been conveyed unequivocally to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. We are deeply concerned that individual prejudices are being allowed to undermine the credibility of a UN institution. Such malicious reports cannot undermine the will of the people and the Government of India to take all measures necessary to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country from cross-border terrorism.”
In the report released on Thursday, the UN talked about alleged human rights violations in both Kashmir and Pakistan occupied Kashmir, and sought an international inquiry into these abuses.
#India should take immediate and effective steps to avoid a repetition of the numerous examples of excessive use of force by security forces in #Kashmir: https://t.co/8SeQ9tlhZU pic.twitter.com/ZiiificTB6
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) June 14, 2018
The 49-page report, the first ever issued by the UN on the human rights situation in Kashmir and Pakistan occupied Kashmir, details human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control, and highlights a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces.
The report states that “There is an urgent need to address past and ongoing human rights violations and abuses and deliver justice for all people in Kashmir, who for seven decades have suffered a conflict that has claimed or ruined numerous lives.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said, “The political dimensions of the dispute between India and Pakistan have long been centre-stage, but this is not a conflict frozen in time. It is a conflict that has robbed millions of their basic human rights, and continues to this day to inflict untold suffering.”
Zeid also requested to set up a commission to investigate into allegations of human rights violation in Kashmir. He also urged Indian authorities to take immediate and effective steps to avoid a repetition of the numerous examples of excessive use of force by security forces in Kashmir.
The report also urged Pakistan to end the misuse of anti-terror legislation to persecute those engaging in peaceful political and civil activities and those who express dissent. The report suggested Pakistan amend the constitutions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan to end the criminalization of Ahmadiyya Muslims.
