Government should look into UN report on Kashmir: Tharoor

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday suggested that the Centre needs to point out if there were any inaccuracy in the UN report on Kashmir.

In the 49-page report, the United Nations Human Rights Office has called for a probe into alleged human rights violations in Kashmir by both India and Pakistan.

Tharoor told ANI, "UN Human Rights Commission has to do its job and we have to do ours. It would be wrong for us to pretend that the situation is absolutely normal in Kashmir. There have been issues and violence in Kashmir and perhaps also in response to human rights violations."

He further said that if the report was incorrect then it should be criticised.

"The government has to look into the report carefully. Wherever it is wrong, criticise it. Where there is substance, we ourselves need corrective measures in the interests of the people," he added.

Earlier, brushing aside the report, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called it misleading and mischievous.

"The report violates India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in the illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression. We have repeatedly called upon Pakistan to vacate the occupied territories. The incorrect description of Indian territory in the report is mischievous, misleading and unacceptable. There are no entities such as "Azad Jammu and Kashmir" and "Gilgit-Baltistan," the MEA said in a statement.

The MEA further stated "it is disturbing that those behind this report have chosen to describe internationally designated and UN-proscribed terrorist entities as "armed groups" and terrorists as "leaders". This undermines the UN-led consensus on zero tolerance to terrorism."

-- (ANI)