UNITED NATIONS, Oct 09 (APP): Despite the right of self-determination being UN Charter’s foundational element, the people of Kashmir and Palestine still await the fulfillment of this right’s promise of freedom, and enjoyment of all other rights, Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said on Wednesday.
“Conflicts old and new deprive communities of their fundamental freedoms, while inequalities, poverty, and the denial of economic, social and cultural rights continue to fuel instability and despair,” he told the General Assembly’s Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues.
“For over seven decades, and especially since India’s unilateral and illegal measures of August 2019, Kashmiris continue to live under repression, denied freedoms, and subjected to arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, demographic engineering, and sexual violence against women,” the Pakistani envoy said during the general debate, noting that the situation of human rights around the world was increasingly under strain.
“We urge the United Nations, in particular the Security Council, to uphold its own commitments, to ensure accountability for ongoing violations, and to enable the Kashmiri people to determine their destiny through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations,” he said, pointing out if they fail to uphold their commitments to the Palestinian and Kashmiri peoples, the credibility of the human rights system will remain gravely undermined.
Ambassador Asim Ahmad said that the Palestinian people have for generations faced dispossession, blockade, and the use of excessive force, all in clear violation of international law.
“Today,” he added, “the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has exposed the costs of denial of the right to self-determination”.
He urged the international community to act decisively to end these atrocities, ensure accountability, and deliver on the long-denied promise of an independent, viable and contiguous State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Pointing out the alarming rise of Islamophobia was another threat, the Pakistani envoy said Muslims face hate speech, discrimination, stigmatization of their beliefs, and attacks on their places of worship across the world.
“Islamophobia has become institutionalized in some societies, fueling division and exclusion,” Ambassador Asim Ahmad said, calling for the adoption of an Action Plan by the United Nations to counter the scourge of Islamophobia.
Deliberate spread of disinformation, he said, is a weapon deployed to deflect scrutiny from grave violations, malign communities, and delegitimize just struggles. “If unchecked, it will undermine trust, divides societies, and silences victims. ”
Pakistan recognized this danger early on and led the adoption of the landmark consensus resolution on Countering Disinformation for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms by the General Assembly in 2021.
“We urge all Member States to join us in operationalizing its vision—to ensure that truth, not fake news and propaganda, guides our collective response to human rights challenges.”
Ambassador Asim Ahmad also called for reaffirming the right to development as universal and inalienable, saying only through a just international economic order can all peoples enjoy their human rights.
“For developing countries, the neglect of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development makes it harder to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, combat climate shocks, and build inclusive societies.”
During his statement to the committee, Indian delegate P. P. Chaudhary also responded to the Pakistani envoy’s remarks, claiming that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India. He also described Pakistan’s elections as “rigged”, and spoke about jailing of political leaders as well as suppression of popular protests.
Pakistani delegate Saima Saleem hit back, saying Jammu and Kashmir has never been an “integral part” of India, citing Security Council resolutions. The Kashmiri people, she said, were enduring state-sponsored terrorism and egregious human rights violations under India’s occupation.
Ms.Saleem, a counsellor at Pakistani Mission to the UN, who was exercising her right of reply, reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for “the inalienable right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people”.
Accusing India of “institutionalized Islamophobia and hatred” and widespread human rights violations, she said, “Muslims are lynched, mosques are demolished, churches burned, calls for genocide and hate speech normalized.”
“India’s repeated violations of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity; its unprovoked attacks, including the defeat of May 10 when its aggressive designs were foiled; and its coercive posturing against smaller neighbours reveal a pattern of belligerence and irresponsible behaviour,” the Pakistani delegate asserted.
“In times of climate-induced floods and droughts, weaponizing water by holding in abeyance of Indus Waters Treaty by India is not just a violation of international obligations, it is an affront to human dignity, violation of human rights of people of Pakistan and basic norms of good neighbourliness,” she said.
“Peace in South Asia will remain a distant dream until India ends its occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and abandons its policy of aggression and state-sponsored terrorism.”