ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday said that there was complete communication blackout in the occupied Kashmir.
Addressing a seminar on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the Foreign Minister said that basic human rights had been usurped in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the foreign media was not being provided access to occupied Kashmir and the reports being received from there were raising concerns.
He said Pakistan kept apprised the UN Secretary General, the President of the UN Security Council and other world leaders of the grave human rights situation in IIOJK.
Minorities in India, he said, were holding protest demonstrations and India’s perception as secular state and the largest democracy of the world had been badly damaged.
Qureshi said, “The world parliaments need to raise voice over the serious human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.” He said we were also informing the world about the threat of a false flag operation from India.
On Thursday, Pakistan joined the international community in observing the International Human Rights Day, marked each year to commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations on 10 December 1948.
“This day is an occasion to reaffirm our resolve to respect and uphold human dignity and to promote the human rights agenda without any distinction or discrimination,” a foreign ministry statement said.
“The UDHR embodies the humanity’s collective ideals of building peaceful, inclusive and just societies. We are proud of the rich imprints in the document from Pakistan’s representative, Begum Shaista Ikramullah, who was amongst the select group that drafted the UDHR,” the statement added.
It said a progressive and democratic State that was mindful of its international commitments and obligations, Pakistan was constructively engaged with various human rights mechanisms under UN auspices. “We always strive to play a positive role as a bridge-builder across diverse political and regional perspectives at the UN,” it added.
Bolstered by our Constitution, progressive legislation, administrative reforms, and institution building, the statement said: “our actions are particularly aimed at the disadvantaged by seeking to reduce inequalities and expand access to education, health-care and employment opportunities. Poverty alleviation, empowerment of women and youth, achievement of sustainable development goals, ensuring equality of opportunities, and justice for all segments of the society are at the centre of Pakistan’s human rights priorities.”
On this day, the statement said: “We must particularly keep in our thoughts and prayers the oppressed people in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, who are not only being denied their inalienable right to self-determination for over seven decades, but also facing gruesome repression at the hands of Indian occupation forces acting with full impunity. Since 5 August 2019, these people are enduring the worst form of human rights violations.”
India’s gross and systematic violations of human rights in IIOJK had been comprehensively documented in the two Kashmir reports of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as by the UN Special Procedure Mandate Holders, international civil society, and the media, the statement said.
