India trying to convert IHK into Muslim minority region: FO

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan sent alarm bells ringing when on Thursday it hit out at India and charged it with converting Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) into a Muslim minority region. Efforts have been underway ever since the Modi government came to New Delhi but of late even Indian commentators and politicians as well as pro-India politicians inside Kashmir have raised their voices saying enough was enough.

 “We will not be incorrect if we term these killings of defenceless Kashmiri youth, women, children and old age, by Indian forces as ‘genocide.’ Indian policy of killing innocent Kashmiris is part of a strategy, to break the spirit of Kashmiris, alter the demography in Jammu & Kashmir and to convert it into a Muslim minority from an overwhelming Muslim majority state”, charged the spokesman at the Foreign Office during the weekly media briefing.

With these measures, he said India is bringing material change to the inside IHK, which is a violation of UNSC Resolution on Jammu & Kashmir.

Giving a breakdown of the human rights situation in IHK, where Kashmiris are losing their lives every day, the spokesman pointed out that the statistics of Kashmiris’ sufferings on various counts, as a result of Indian barbarities, and impunity with which Indian forces are committing the crimes against humanity, challenge the credibility of international community’s commitment to human rights, particularly the so-called protectors and defenders of human rights.

“To that end, besides killing Kashmiris in scores, the other measures that India has taken are settling non-Kashmiris, accommodating Indian forces personnel, who have been committing crimes against humanity, exclusive colonies for political manipulation”, he added. The spokesman to a query also commented on unending casualties along Line of Control which this year saw it violated 600 times in which there were 34 civilian casualties.

The spokesman pointed towards long list of Indian violations of international laws and conventions on human rights. “Fake encounters (discovery of unnamed & unmarked mass graves), rape as a tool to harass Kashmiris struggling for their right to self-determination, denial of right to religious practice, disappearances, deliberate blinding, illegal prolonged detentions, implicating Hurriyat leaders in trumped up charges of terrorism and so on”, he said. The spokesman to another query also commented on the continuing standoff between India and China on Bhutan’s borders. “We have noted the Indian violation.

We are concerned at the increasing Indian belligerence towards its neighbours, which is endangering regional peace and stability. This is not the first instance. If you recall sometime ago, India had interfered in a neighboring country and created hurdles. The Indian belligerent posture towards its neighbours has a direct bearing on regional peace and security and will also impact international peace and security”, he said. As the Trump administration is yet to announce its policy for Afghanistan and the region and its future strategy of how to deal with the unending unrest in the landlocked country, Pakistan says it is waiting and watching but insists that there is no military solution to the conflict. “I cannot speculate about it at this juncture. The focus of international campaign since 2001 has been on a military approach. We believe this approach has not borne fruit and thus needs a revisit. The enduring solution to the protracted conflict in Afghanistan can only be achieved through reconciliation and peace talks”, the spokesman explained.

Pakistan, he said, has therefore welcomed and supported Afghan government’s peace deal with Hizb-e-Islami. “We believe it can serve as a model for future talks with other insurgent groups, including Taliban. Pakistan will do all within its means to support the reconciliation process that has ownership of Afghan government. We support Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process”, he said