ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s representative, while rejecting India’s remarks during the United Nations Security Council debate on Women, Peace, and Security, highlighted the plight of women in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.
In his statement on Monday, in response to the remarks of an Indian delegate during the Open Debate, Pakistan’s First Secretary Sarfraz Ahmad Gohar termed the comments as “baseless.”
Gohar said that India’s remarks are an attempt to deflect attention from its appalling record in the occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
‘Disputed territory’
“The fact remains that Jammu and Kashmir is not an integral part of India. It is a disputed territory, as affirmed by Security Council resolutions, which call for a United Nations-supervised plebiscite. India accepted these resolutions and is bound under Article 25 of the UN Charter to implement them,” the first secretary stressed.
Speaking on the topic of the debate, Gohar said the theme of the discussion, "Women, Peace, and Security," is painfully relevant to the occupied region of Jammu and Kashmir. For decades, women there have endured the worst forms of violence — rape, harassment, arbitrary detention, and collective punishment — at the hands of Indian occupation forces.
“Their plight deserves this Council’s attention,” he said.
Gohar, in his response, said: "The reference [by the Indian delegate] to 1971 is yet another attempt to distort history -- by a country that distinguishes itself in disinformation and as a serial violator of international law."
“India’s interference, naked aggression, and military intervention in East Pakistan was a blatant violation of the UN Charter,” he added.
Credible steps
The Pakistan representative also highlighted the plight of Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and other minorities in India, saying, “Hindutva ideology has become state policy.”
He said that Genocide Watch (a non-governmental organisation based in Canada) warned during a US congressional briefing that there were early “signs and processes” of genocide in the Indian state of Assam and in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.
Gohar demanded that India must take credible steps toward fulfilling the Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir, protect the minorities living in its country, and stop misleading the UN Security Council.
