Mr. President, My delegation is exercising its right of reply in response to the statement made by the Indian representative. Jammu and Kashmir neither is a so-called “integral” part of India, nor is it India’s internal matter. India remains in occupation of an internationally recognized disputed territory whose final disposition needs to be decided in accordance with the democratic principle of a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices, as provided for under numerous resolutions of the Security Council. In order to divert attention from the ever-increasing international condemnation of India’s widespread and escalating human rights abuses in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), India continues to level baseless allegations and rely on outright lies and obfuscation. India’s compulsive obsession with Pakistan is neither new nor surprising. It has permeated its ruling elite and governance structures. But there is a method to this obsession as it underpins India’s electoral and foreign policy under the ruling RSS-BJP “Hindutva” inspired government. The EU Disinfo lab has graphically revealed how India has deployed such tools of deflection, deception and disinformation against my country including at the United Nations. Mr. President, India’s violations of Human Rights in occupied Jammu and Kashmir are well documented in the two reports of the High Commissioner on Human Rights. Since 5 August 2019, the High Commissioner has urged India to “unlock the situation and fully restore the rights that are currently being denied” to the people of IIOJK. Several other Special Rapporteurs and Mandate Holders have also termed the human rights situation in IIOJK in a “free fall”. Major human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have expressed similar serious concerns about India’s human rights violations, including in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Not surprisingly, Indian authorities have failed to respond to any of these communications. In fact, a witch hunt has been launched against those who dare to report these crimes. Only last year, Amnesty International ceased work in India citing constant harassment at the hands of the government. The Government of Pakistan has recently released a comprehensive and well-researched Dossier containing the entire range of gross, systematic and widespread violations of human rights being perpetrated by Indian security forces in the occupied territory. We call upon the international community to take cognizance of the compelling evidence and hold India accountable for the heinous crimes. If India has nothing to hide, it must accept a UN Commission of Inquiry and agree to implement the Security Council resolutions stipulating a plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their right to self-determination. Mr. President, As for India’s use of the canard of terrorism, regurgitating stale arguments that are typical of all occupiers. Let me emphasize that India itself is the principal perpetrator, sponsor, financier and abettor of terrorism in the region. Today, India is involved in at least 4 different types of terrorism. First, India is resorting to “State terrorism” to suppress the people of Indian Illegally Occupied in Jammu and Kashmir. Since 1989, Indian occupying forces have killed more than 96,000 Kashmiris, widowed around 23,000 women, used rape as weapon of war, and orphaned more than 108,000 children. Second, it is funding and supporting terrorist organizations like the TTP which are involved in numerous cross-border terrorist attacks against Pakistani military and civilian targets. Over the last decade, thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives or have been injured as a result of these Indian-sponsored terrorist attacks. Pakistan has shared irrefutable evidence of Indian involvement in supporting and sponsoring terrorism with the international community. Third, India is financing and organizing mercenary terrorist organizations against Pakistan to impede economic growth and prosperity of the region. India’s National Security Advisor (NSA), Mr. Ajit Doval, has publicly admitted supporting and financing of such mercenaries. The captured Indian spy, Kulbhushan Jadhav, has also confessed to organizing such terrorism in Pakistan. Fourth, India is being guided by a supremacist ideology that has mainstreamed Islamophobia and bigotry against minorities particularly Muslims in its political discourse. The RSS which is one of the oldest fascist movements in the world enjoys state protection, patronage and support by BJP, the ruling party in India. It was RSS which was responsible for the pogrom in Gujrat in 2002 which killed over 2000 innocent Muslim children, women and men. These anti-Muslim pogroms were later repeated in Mumbai and Delhi. One cannot expect anything new from the purveyors of Hindutva. In today’s incredibly intolerant India, the 200 million strong Muslim minority faces frequent lynching by ‘cow vigilantes’; pogroms by RSS thugs, with official complicity; discriminatory citizenship laws to disenfranchise Muslims; and a concerted campaign to destroy mosques and the rich Muslim heritage of India. Mr. President, For the edifice of fascism is in an advanced stage of construction in India. The Hindutva order of the ruling party has created an atmosphere of fear among all minorities including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Dalits. The Indian delegation would do well to reflect on the deeply troubling trajectory their state is embarked upon, rather than indulging in patent falsehoods about Pakistan. India must realize that it has continuously and miserably failed to suppress the Kashmiris living under its occupation from demanding their inalienable right to self-determination. I thank you.
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