India hits out at Pakistan, OIC for raising Kashmir issue at UN Human Rights Council
India on Wednesday slammed Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
New Delhi accused Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government of failing to protect the rights of the minorities, including Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and Ahmadiyas.
“Thousands of women and girls from minority communities have been subjected to abductions, forced marriages and conversions in Pakistan and its occupied territories,” Pawan Badhe, first secretary of India’s permanent mission to the UN offices in Geneva, said in a statement at the UNHRC.
The statement was made using India’s 'right to reply' after Pakistan and OIC accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of human rights violation in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Pakistan has been engaged in systematic persecution, forced conversions, targeted killings, sectarian violence and faith-based discrimination against its ethnic and religious minorities,” said Badhe, turning the table on Pakistan.
He said that the incidents of violence against minority communities, including attacks on their places of worship, their cultural heritage, as well as their private property had taken place with impunity in Pakistan. A ‘climate of fear’ continues to drastically impact the daily lives of minorities in Pakistan, he added.
He rejected the reference made by the OIC to Jammu and Kashmir and stated that the Union Territory was an integral part of India. “The OIC has no locus standi to comment on internal affairs of India. The OIC has helplessly allowed itself to be held hostage by Pakistan, which holds the chairmanship of their Geneva Chapter, to subserve its own agenda. It’s for the members of the OIC to decide if it is in their interest to allow Pakistan to do so,” said Badhe.
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