Call for collective action against HR abuses in IIOJ&K

ISLAMABAD: Mushaal Malick, former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and Women Empowerment and wife of Hurriyet leader Yasin Malick, has said that there is a need to maintain international attention on the Kashmir issue.

Ms Mushaal was speaking at a discussion hosted by Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) on the escalating human rights crisis in Occupied Kashmir since Aug 5, 2019.

Ms Mushaal praised the Pakistani government’s steadfast support for Kashmiris’ right to self-determination and called for increased backing from the Kashmiri diaspora and international community to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Ilyas Mehmood Nizami, DG South Asia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination. He noted that the alarming human rights situation there requires a collective response from the international community.

Shamim Shwal, executive member, APHC, stated that limiting the Chief Minister’s powers in IIOJK, along with other forms of systematic political engineering, was akin to turning the valley into a settler colony. She warned that the ongoing ignorance and inaction of the international community regarding India’s severe human rights violations since 2019 would encourage New Delhi to advance its hegemonic agenda in Kashmir, further jeopardising the lives of Kashmiris.

Dr Waseem Ishaque of NUML compared India’s approach to Kashmir with Israel’s tactics in Gaza, endangering the lives of millions of Kashmiris. He highlighted the necessity of exposing India’s hegemonic ambitions to garner international support for Kashmiris’ self-determination.

Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, former convener APHC, echoed stressed significance of the right of self-determination. He noted that India’s continued dismissal of UN Security Council resolutions was undermining the UN efforts to secure the Kashmiri right to self-determination. Dr Waqas Ali Kausar from NUML remarked that India was systematically alienating and depriving Kashmiris of their fundamental political rights.

Jauhar Saleem, President, IRS, stressed that the solution to end Indian atrocities in IIOJK lies in fully supporting the Kashmiri people’s inalienable right to self-determination, a commitment that Pakistan’s government and its people consistently upheld and will continue to support.