*NEW YORK – **Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi effectively raises Pakistan's viewpoint in UN General Assembly debate *
* Pakistan has called upon the international community to act in a “consistent and uniform” manner to all transgressions, not selectively.*
Speaking in the UN General Assembly debate on Responsibility to Protect and prevent crimes against humanity, Pakistani Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi highlighted the gross violations particularly in occupied territories that continue to the subject of repeated UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
“Pakistan should not allow human suffering to be selectively prioritized for political convenience or to serve narrow interests,”* Maleeha Lodhi* link. She also cautioned against becoming oblivious to the suffering of those who have been displaced and marginalized.
Focusing on the role played by hate speech to incite violence, the Pakistani envoy said Islamophobia has become the most prevalent contemporary expression of this vile narrative.
“We know only too well from our neighbourhood how the abiding lure of communal politics has become the most assured pathway to political power,” she told the 193-member Assembly.
“Concerted efforts were required to reverse the tide of hate and bigotry that threatens to undermine social cohesion and peaceful coexistence within societies,” Lodhi said.
While stressing that the notion of the Responsibility to Protect stands on more tenuous ground today than ever before, she said that decisions taken by the international community, have in this regard, continue to betray the test of the highest standards of objectivity and impartiality.
“At its core,” the Pakistani envoy said, “The responsibility to protect, is not a license to intervene in external situations, but, is instead, a universal principle of `non-indifference`, in keeping with historical context and cultural norms of respective settings.”
“It is predicated on the express recognition that the responsibility for the protection of civilians lies first, and foremost, with member states.”
In this regard, she called for recommitment to the UN Charter, based on the inherent dignity and worth of the individual, and the provision of fundamental human rights, including the right of peoples to self-determination.