Pak MPs to also raise issue of Indian involvement in Balochistan

ISLAMABAD: Even as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sends 22 parliamentarians as special envoys to pull the wool away from the eyes of leaders in important world capitals, Pakistan will also take this opportunity to apprise these leaders of the continued interference of India inside Balochistan, the country’s largest province where the recently arrested serving Indian naval officer Commander Kulbhushan Yadav’s confessions are self explanatory.

Also worrying for India as Pakistan’s envoys pack their bags is that India’s recent track record in protecting freedom of expression is expected to come under close scrutiny in the next Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2017, and leading the charge could be Holland. 

As usual the Foreign Office here appears to be either clueless or least interested to talk about a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report titled, ‘Stifling Dissent: The Criminalisation of Peaceful Expression in India’, through which the European Union is being sensitised.

The UPR is a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council that periodically reviews the compliance of member states with international human rights law.

The HRW report is in the public domain. Universal Periodic Review in 2017 will encourage India to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of expression for a fact-finding mission.

The HRW is prepared to raise the issue of free speech with India in the framework of the UPR and the Netherlands the will, “where possible, exert itself to raise these issues at EU level”.

India’s human rights record becoming a talking point in EU forums assumes significance in the context of the recent incident involving Amnesty International India, which was slapped with the sedition charge in connection with an event it organised to highlight human rights violations in the Kashmir Valley.

“We appreciate that our foreign minister will raise the issue of freedom of expression during India’s next UPR in 2017 at the Human Rights Council,” said Gerard Oonk, director, India Committee of the Netherlands, a Utrecht-based NGO that tracks human rights issues in India for action and advocacy in the Netherlands. “But we urge that this should not be just a statement about its general importance but on the actual and very worrying trend to silence critics, being a real threat to Indian democracy.”

This development comes close on the heels of a letter written by HRW to the president of the European Commission in March this year, requesting the EU to “urge the Indian government” to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, repeal the sedition law, and “amend the FCRA so that it does not interfere with the rights to freedom of expression and association and cannot be misused to choke the protected peaceful activities of civil society organisations.”

Meanwhile, the urgency of bringing in Balochistan into the dialogue with world leaders by Sharif’s special envoys takes urgency as New Delhi starts to “put in place” a new policy on raising human rights violations by Pakistan forces in Balochistan.

“India has a strong human rights record, and we are naturally concerned about human rights violations in [Balochistan]. How this is expressed in our diplomacy, you will have to wait and see,” said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup on Friday.

When asked if the measures planned by the government include setting up a Baloch government in exile, similar to the Tibetan government in exile based in Dharamshala, Swarup said last week, “Let us not jump the gun... MEA will do what it has to do because, after all, the people of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (sic) are also our people,” indicating that India believes a tougher line on Balochistan will dissuade Pakistan from taking a more shrill position on Kashmir.

Former Indian Ambassadors consulted agreed to the continuity of the new Balochistan policy by Modi.

The Hindu reported that “the measures under discussion range from enlisting Indian embassies and missions worldwide to raise the issue of rights violations by Pakistan, easing visa restrictions on Balochis visiting India on the lines of the Cabinet’s recent notification on facilities extended to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries, as well as allowing them more ‘political’ space in India.”

A decision is awaited when the UNGA will be utilised to raise the Balochistan issue even as it is crystal clear that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to address the UN in a hard hitting speech on the continued violence inside Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Taken aback by the continued resilience of the people of Kashmir, the Modi government is now seeking to form a new team to start a Track-2 initiative to reach out to all stakeholders including separatists, as it emerged after a meeting by Prime Minister Modi with IOK Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufit.

A wrong way to start this Track-2 was to imprison APHC leader Mir Waiz Umar Farooq while a helpless Mehbooba justified 50 days of curfew by saying, "The basic purpose of the curfew was to save the lives of youngsters... If we don't impose a curfew what do we do?". The best that she can come up with is now to ensure that these youngsters are not shot by pellet guns but by using bursts of red chillies in guns which will leave no marks but not stop short of once again blinding Kashmiris.

Media reports say that an expert panel constituted to study alternatives to pellets guns is likely to suggest multiple options for crowd control, including an acoustic device used by US police and a chilli-based ammunition capable of temporarily immobilising the target.

A laser shooter that causes temporary blindness has also been discussed in several meetings of the panel, one of its members said on Thursday.