At UNHRC, India rejects OIC remarks on J-K, says it has helplessly allowed itself to be held hostage by Pakistan

India has slammed Pakistan and OIC at the Human Rights Council for making references to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

India exercised its right of reply and said it has become a habit for Pakistan to misuse the platforms provided by the Council to propagate its malicious propaganda.

“It has become a habit for Pakistan to misuse the platforms provided by the Council to propagate its false and malicious propaganda against my country. The Council is aware of Pakistan’s attempts to divert the Council’s attention from serious human rights violations being perpetrated by its Government, including in the territories occupied by it,” First Secretary in the Indian mission in Geneva Pawan Badhe said.

He said Pakistan has failed to protect the rights of its minorities, including Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and Ahmadiyas and thousands of women and girls from minority communities have been subjected to abductions, forced marriages and conversions in Pakistan and its occupied territories.

“Dissenting voices from civil societies, human rights defenders, journalists are muzzled daily in Pakistan, with the support of the Government. Enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, murders and abductions have been used as a tool for subjugation and to muzzle any form of dissent or criticism. The impunity with which such abuses have been carried out exposes the hollowness of Pakistan’s commitment to human rights,” he said.

India, in its right of reply, also underlined Pakistan’s state support to terrorism.

“Pakistan is a country which has been globally recognized as a country openly supporting, training, financing and arming terrorists including UN proscribed terrorists as a matter of state policy. The relevant multilateral institutions have been raising serious concerns on its failure to stop terror financing and lack of effective actions against terror entities,” Badhe said.

India also took on OIC for dragging Jammu and Kashmir at the Council.

“We once again regret and reject the reference made by the OIC to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir which is an integral part of India. The OIC has no locus standi to comment on the internal affairs of India. The OIC has helplessly allowed itself to be held hostage by Pakistan, which holds the Chairmanship of their Geneva Chapter, to subserve its own agenda. It’s for the members of the OIC to decide if it is in their interest to allow Pakistan to do so,” Badhe said.

“India, as not only the world’s largest democracy but a robustly functional and vibrant one, does not need lessons from a failed State like Pakistan which is the epicentre of terrorism and worst abuser of Human Rights,” he added.

Earlier, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) urged the UN Human Rights Council to address the so-called "systematic" human rights violations of the people suffering from long-running disputes in Jammu and Kashmir.

(ANI)