AJK president calls for appointment of special UN representative on Kashmir

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 27 (APP):Describing the situation in Indian occupied Kashmir as “grim and gruesome”, Azad Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan has called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a Special Representative on Jammu and Kashmir to find diplomatic ways for ending atrocities against Kashmiris and to promote a just solution to the decades-old Kashmir dispute.
“The UN Security Council should take decisions and activate mechanisms to implement its own resolutions to allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their right to self-determination through a free, fair and impartial plebiscite,” he said while addressing the annual meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session in New York.
The Contact Group on Kashmir on Wednesday reaffirmed its complete solidarity with the Kashmiri people in their struggle for the right to self-determination, and called for UN investigation of the gross human rights in Indian occupied Kashmir.
In his speech, the AJK president made a fervent appeal to the OIC to use its good offices to urge the United Nations to impress upon India to immediately end human rights violations in Indian occupied Kashmir.
Earlier this year, he pointed out, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a comprehensive report, which lists a long inventory of ghastly and horrendous violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people.
These include killings and blinding of hundreds of people, excessive use of force against peaceful, unarmed civilians, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, enforced disappearances, and systematic use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war.
According to the report, Kashmiris’ rights to life, health, education, freedom of expression and access to justice are being violated with impunity.
President Masood Khan endorsed the OHCHR’s recommendations to fully respect the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir as protected under international law; for India to urgently repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Public Safety Act – the two draconian laws – that empower the occupation forces to commit crimes against humanity in IoK; and establishing a Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry to conduct a comprehensive international investigation into human rights violations in IoK. Sardar Masood Khan also assured that the same probe commission would be welcomed and fully facilitated in Azad Kashmir.
Welcoming the recent statement of the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, the AJK president said she has rightly voiced her concern about the continuing human rights violation in Indian Occupied Kashmir by saying that, “the people of Kashmir have exactly the same rights to justice and dignity as people all over the world”.
Demanding the immediate release of leaders of the Joint Resistance Leadership and All Parties Hurriyat Conference, as well as thousands of political prisoners, incarcerated in Indian jails, President Masood Khan said India should also work towards withdrawing the bulk of its occupation forces from Kashmir.
Expressing his utter dismay over India’s rejection of Pakistan’s offer for talks between Foreign Ministers of both the countries on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly Session, the President said instead of engagement, Indian leaders, and their army chief, have chosen to fuel war psychosis by threatening Pakistan and Kashmiris with aggression.
India, he said, should be persuaded to drop its opposition to dialogue and diplomacy and explore avenues for contact and communication with the parties to the dispute, namely, Pakistan, the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the UN.
Referring to the Indian government’s designs to abolish Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution, President Masood Khan said such attempts are a clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Additional Protocol I and the ICC Statute and referred to them as war crimes.
The AJK president said Kashmiris are beholden to the OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, for his support on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and for convening OIC Contact Group meeting.