Pakistan Ambassador Haroon blasts India in UN Kashmir debate

Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory according to several UN Resolutions. The Security Council’s demand for free and fair plebiscite under the UN auspices still remains to be implemented,’ Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon said rejecting Indian claims.

Citing the current violence in Indian administered Kashmir, Haroon said the occupying forces brutally killed innocent protestors and the Kashmiri political leadership was put behind bars to silence their call for freedom. Such actions created tension and aggravated the situation, he added.

Exercising his right of reply to a statement by Indian delegate Rajeev Shukla, claiming Kashmir to be a part of India, and insisting that an earlier speech by the Pakistani ambassador amounted to ‘unwarranted’ interference in Indian internal affairs, Haroon said that such statements were ‘factually incorrect.’

Shukla said, ‘The people of Jammu and Kashmir exercised their right to self determination at the time of India ’s independence and have since then repeatedly participated in free, fair and open elections at all levels. In contrast, Pakistan pretends to be concerned over human rights, yet denied even a semblance of such rights to the people of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.’

In a hard hitting response, Haroon said Indian claims about Kashmir’s exercise of the right to self-determination through elections have been rejected not only by the UN Security Council but also by the people of Kashmir.

‘The current response to announcing elections is in front of the whole world. The Kashmiri leadership has once again rejected the so-called elections, they have been put behind bars, and widespread protests in Indian occupied Kashmir are going on.’

With regard to human rights violations, Haroon said, Pakistan has only echoed what has been said and reported both by the international and Indian human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media about Indian administered Kashmir.

‘Pakistan remains committed to the ongoing dialogue between the two countries and considers it an important vehicle for promotion of cooperative and good neighbourly relations as well as peace and security in the region. It is, however, important that the process of engagement produce results in addressing the outstanding issues. It should move from a stage of conflict management to conflict resolution,’ Haroon added.

While participating in the committee’s debate on ‘Right of peoples to self-determination’, Haroon said the exercise of that right had empowered suppressed and disenfranchised peoples to strive to achieve equality before the law and to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems.

Referring to the situation in Indian occupied Kashmir, he said that six decades had passed since the Kashmiri people were promised they would be able to exercise their right to self-determination by the UN Security Council. However, the inability to remove troops from that area had delayed self-determination and now the complete removal of troops ordained by the Security Council resolution could not be ignored.

Haroonsaid that an improvement in the human rights situation in Indian administered Kashmir would facilitate and enhance the dialogue process between India and Pakistan, and he called on all parties to seize the opportunity provided by the ongoing dialogue to find a negotiated settlement on the Kashmir issue.

Source: Internet