ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Monday decided to send special envoys to selected countries in an effort to apprise the world about the brutalities and human rights abuses being committed by Indian forces in Held Kashmir.
The decision to approach the international community was taken at a special meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a day after at least 17 innocent Kashmiris were martyred by Indian forces in the occupied valley in some of the fiercest clashes this year in the region.
The federal cabinet, which reviewed the situation arising out of Indian brutalities in the Held Kashmir, also passed a resolution condemning the indiscriminate use of force by Indian forces that resulted in the death of several Kashmiris in Shopian and Anantnag areas, read a statement issued by the PM House. The cabinet announced that April 6 will be observed as ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’.
The cabinet reiterated Pakistan’s request to the UN secretary general to appoint a special envoy for Jammu and Kashmir with a mandate flowing from the unimplemented UN Security Council resolutions.
The cabinet emphatically condemned the suspension of communication services, especially the internet in the valley, and underscored that such reprehensible attempts by India aimed at preventing the voice of the Kashmiris from reaching the international community would never succeed.
The cabinet paid tributes to the brave and resilient people of the Held Kashmir who had been continuously demonstrating against the brutal repression, incarceration, torture and extrajudicial killings perpetrated by the illegal occupation of Indian forces.
The meeting condemned the draconian laws, including POTA, TADA, PSA and AFSPA, imposed by India in the valley. It stressed that the deteriorating situation in the valley and Indian escalation at the Working Boundary and the Line of Control was a flashpoint and a threat to the regional peace and tranquility.
Expressing solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the meeting urged the international community to take cognizance of the gross and systematic human rights violations in Held Kashmir. The meeting requested the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission to send fact finding missions to the Held Kashmir.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif briefed the cabinet on the situation in the valley and detailed Pakistan’s efforts to garner support of the international community for the Kashmir cause.
Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, the minister said the history of massacre of the Muslims in India’s Gujarat was being repeated in the Held Kashmir. “India id playing holi with the blood of Kashmiris,” he said, and accused New Delhi of state-sponsored terrorism in the occupied valley.
He said that he had discussed Kashmir crisis with the Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers, adding that the Muslim nations have openly supported Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir.
“Not only in Kashmir, but the Muslim blood is being shed in Myanmar and Palestine as well… we hope the Islamic countries are with us on the issue,” he said.
“We also have good relations with other countries if India enjoys cordial ties with the international community. We have good ties with the European Union and bilateral relations with the United States are getting better,” he said, adding that the government would not allow mistakes of the past to be repeated again.
The foreign minister went on to say that pinning hope of improvement in bilateral ties with the Indian leadership is useless as they themselves are terrorists, adding that the ruling party in India, PM Narendra Modi’s BJP, is trying to increase its vote bank by spreading religious hatred.
Published in Daily Times, April 3rd 2018.
