ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday said the reportof United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) withits categorical focus on human rights abuses in Indian occupied Jammu andKashmir caught India completely off-guard.
The foreign minister stated this during a meeting with Azad Jammu andKashmir AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider. Both the leaders discussedthe current situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).
The AJK prime minister congratulated Qureshi on his appointment as foreignminister and briefed him about the human rights situation in IoK.
Highlighting the findings of the OHCHR report, the AJK prime ministerregretted that instead of addressing the concerns raised in the report onhuman rights violations in IoK perpetrated by the occupation forces, Indiahad exacerbated its repression there with the imposition of governor ruleand brutal use of force.
He said the assassination of veteran Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukharijust hours after his tweet in favour of the OHCHR report was yet anotherproof of Indian atrocities in IoK.
The foreign minister welcomed the recommendation of the OHCHR report toconstitute a commission of inquiry (COI) to investigate gross andsystematic human rights violations in IoK. He said if India really hadnothing to hide, then it should allow access to the COI and OIC IPHRC(Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation) to the IoK.
The minister also highlighted the steps taken by the Foreign Ministry andPakistani missions aboard to underscore the importance of the OHCHR reportand stated that Pakistan would continue to draw attention to the findingsof the report at international forums.
He affirmed that the government and the people of Pakistan would continueto give full moral, diplomatic and political support to the people of IoKin their legitimate struggle to attain their inalienable right toself-determination.