Delivering a statement with “grave alarm” at the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Chairman KIIR Altaf Hussain Wani has called for immediate international intervention in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), describing the territory as an “open-air prison” where occupation has metastasized into systematic cultural genocide and political erasure.
World Muslim Congress warns of “Cultural Genocide” in IIOJK, demands urgent UN intervention at Human Rights Council
ISLAMABAD, Mar 15 (APP): Delivering a statement with “grave alarm” at the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Chairman KIIR Altaf Hussain Wani has called for immediate international intervention in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), describing the territory as an “open-air prison” where occupation has metastasized into systematic cultural genocide and political erasure.
Speaking on behalf of the World Muslim Congress under Agenda Item 3 during the General Debate, Altaf Wani detailed a catastrophic human rights situation characterized by the complete suppression of fundamental freedoms.
“India has transformed Kashmir into an open-air prison,” Wani stated, highlighting the crushing of free expression and peaceful assembly under draconian laws, alongside a suffocating digital siege and pervasive social media surveillance that criminalizes dissent and isolates the population from the world, said a press release received here on Sunday.
The statement elaborated relentless harassment against human rights defenders, who face arbitrary detention and extrajudicial violence, while thousands of political prisoners languish in jails for years without trial. Wani specifically condemned Delhi’s “Seven Pillars” security doctrine, describing it not as a framework for protection but as “seven bars of an iron cage” that militarizes every aspect of civilian life.
The World Muslim Congress further raised alarm over evidence of war crimes, noting that families of victims killed in fake encounters are denied the fundamental dignity of last rites, with bodies instead buried in mass graves to erase evidence. Concurrently, the organization documented a systematic campaign of religious persecution against Muslims, including the demolition of homes, banning of religious practices, and state-sanctioned incitement of violence committed with impunity.
“This Council cannot remain complicit,” Wani emphasized. “We demand immediate international intervention, unrestricted access for Special Procedures, and accountability for these crimes against humanity. Silence is complicity.”
The World Muslim Congress urged the international community to move beyond expressions of concern and take concrete steps to address what it termed an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, insisting that the UNHRC has both the mandate and the moral obligation to ensure accountability for violations in the disputed territory.
