Sarwar writes to EU members over atrocities in Held Kashmir

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has written a letter to 751 members of the European Parliament (EU), including its vice-president, regarding Indian atrocities on Kashmiris and controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act against the Muslims of India.

He has also mentioned the violations of seven conventions of United Nations and other international organisations by India. The governor in the letter also demanded of the European Parliament to play its role by approving a resolution against India on January 30, 2020.Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said that despite war hysteria by India, Pakistan under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan was advocating for peace.

He wrote that Prime Minister Imran Khan as “ambassador of Kashmiris” had effectively been highlighting Kashmir issue and peace efforts by Pakistan before the world at all the international forums. The world community should play its role in settlement of Kashmir issue and also take strict notice of Indian government’s atrocities on Indian Muslims.

In his letter addressed to European Parliament Vice-President Fabio Massimo Castaldo and other members of the parliament on Tuesday, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar urged the EU member states to support resolutions for repealing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act-2019 (CAA) of India and lifting of curfew by India in occupied Kashmir, besides help implement the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.

“I am deeply grateful to all the European Union lawmakers for their commitment to upholding social justice and democratic values such as equality, diversity and fairness and as a result drafting the anti–CAA resolution and calling upon all the EU member states to condemn unilateral changes made to the autonomous status of Kashmir and implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions in the upcoming European Parliament session” Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said.

It is high time the international community checked gross violations of human rights and draconian laws by Indian government” the governor added.

He wrote that since May 2019, PM Narendra Modi’s start of second term, India first stripped Kashmir of its autonomy, deployed additional troops in the region, cut off internet/phones, placed thousands of people in preventive detention and, secondly, reinforced its nationalistic orientation by introducing the CAA on Dec 11 2019 which could trigger the largest statelessness crisis in the world and cause widespread human suffering. The CAA is explicitly discriminatory in nature as it specifically excludes Muslims from having access to the same provisions as other religious groups. The Indian government’s justification for “fast track citizenship” is to prevent persecution of minorities. However the world’s most persecuted minorities such as Sri Lankan Tamils, Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, Bihari Muslims in Bangladesh and Buddhist refugees from Tibet, do not fall under CAA’s purview. Under CAA, India is prosecuting national and religious minorities and silencing opposition, human rights groups and journalists critical of the government.

“We are grateful to the members of the European Union for condemning India’s disregard to its international obligations and human rights treaties (as below) to which New Delhi is a signatory, in the upcoming European Parliament session: Charter of the United Nations; Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); Article 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; UN Security Council Resolution 91 (1951) on Kashmir; UN report on Kashmir of 2019; India-EU Strategic Partnership Joint Action Plan and the EU-India Thematic Dialogue on Human Rights; and Article 14 of Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to equality to all and protects all from discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, gender or place of birth,” he maintained. The Punjab governor further mentioned in the letter, “As a former member of the British Parliament, I know that the European Union and member states have always played a key role in addressing international issues. On Jan 30th European Union and member states are urged to vote in favour of resolutions; 1) For India to repeal the discriminatory CAA; 2) To remove the curfew in Kashmir and implement the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.”“Lastly I would highlight that Pakistan’s priority is regional peace. Prime Minister Imran Khan is open to dialogue and negotiations as we realise the enormous human, economic and political benefits of resolving the Kashmir conflict and the importance of stability in the region as both Pakistan and India are nuclear weapon states,” he concluded.