NEW YORK: Pakistan has reiterated that India's illegal annexation of Jammu and Kashmir will never be accepted by Kashmiris.
Second Secretary in the Pakistan Mission Rabia Ijaz responded to the inflammatory remarks made by the Indian delegation during the General Assembly debate on "Responsibility to Protect (R2P)".
She said Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains an internationally recognized issue under relevant Security Council resolutions and cannot be wished away through India's legal maneuvers.
She urged the international community to work towards alleviating the suffering of the people of Jammu and Kashmir by granting them their right to self-determination, as enshrined in the UN Charter and numerous UNSC resolutions.
Addressing the Indian delegation's refusal to acknowledge the facts presented by Pakistan regarding India's poor treatment of minorities, Rabia Ijaz said India has opted to present fabricated assertions to the Assembly in line with its previous practice.
She highlighted the irony of India lecturing on human rights while its minorities, including Christians, Muslims, and Dalits, face public lynching at the hands of Hindutva zealots daily.
Rabia Ijaz emphasized that Pakistan condemns any incident of religious violence within its borders, with Pakistani leadership swiftly intervening to condemn such acts and ensure justice for the perpetrators. She contrasted this with India's leadership, which appears bent on escalating communal tensions.
Referring to the anti-Muslim rhetoric in India, Rabia Ijaz questioned India's justification for a recent incident where a BJP leader openly threatened to slaughter 200,000 Muslims. She pointed out that India's leadership has been seen using anti-Muslim rhetoric for political gain, with the Prime Minister referring to Muslims as "infiltrators" during campaign speeches. Additionally, Hindu priests have openly called for the genocide of Muslim minorities in India.
Rabia Ijaz regretted the lack of action against hate crimes in India, noting that in other countries, such incidents would prompt swift and decisive action to create deterrence. The Pakistani delegate urged the Indian delegation to address the concerns consistently raised by UN experts and to reverse the dangerous Islamophobic trend in their country instead of making vitriolic remarks and fabricating information against Pakistan.
She also pointed out the irony for India, which uses terrorism as a state policy against its neighbors, while having the audacity to lecture on terrorism. She said India has been a state sponsor of terrorism, running global assassination campaigns, and abusing UN Security Council sanctions regimes to prevent the listing of its nationals involved in terrorist activities.
