Conflict

Pakistan Foreign Secretary briefs OIC ambassadors on Kashmir situation

Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Secretary, Tehmina Janjua, held a detailed discussion with Islamabad-based OIC ambassadors on the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir on June 13, 2017.

Srinagar: Pakistan on Tuesday briefed the envoys of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) on Kashmir.

Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Secretary, Tehmina Janjua, held a detailed discussion with Islamabad-based OIC ambassadors on the human rights situation in  Jammu and Kashmir as well as alleged ceasefire violations by India along the Line of Control (LoC) and the working boundary.

Condemning the “ongoing human rights violations” in J&K, which have resulted in loss of over 100 civilian lives and injuries to over 15,000 Kashmiris including those by use of pellet gun shots deliberately aimed at the upper parts of the body and eyes, making more than 150 people permanently blind, the Pakistan foreign secretary invited the attention of the OIC ambassadors over the incident of using an innocent Kashmiri as a human shield.

The incident, Janjua said, “reflected disregard” for human dignity. “The oppressed Kashmiri people look for support of Muslim brethren in their just and legitimate struggle for the realisation of the right to self-determination,” she said.

“Pakistan urged member states of Organization of Islamic Cooperation to play an active role in support of Kashmiri people in their just struggle for right to self-determination,” Radio Pakistan reported.

On April 9, a Kashmiri weaver called Farooq Ahmad Dar was trussed to the bonnet of a military jeep and driven on a five-hour journey through several villages at the head of an Indian Army convoy.

He had just voted in a by-election for the Indian parliament when he was picked up by an army patrol.

He was beaten before he was lashed to the vehicle with a sign saying: “This is the fate that will befall stone throwers” pinned to his chest.

The incident was filmed and shared on social media, causing uproar in the state.

The use of Farooq Dar as a human shield was criticised around the world. Amnesty International described it as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment amounting to torture.

The army initiated an inquiry into the incident but on May 22, before the inquiry had been completed, the army awarded responsible army officer Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi a ‘commendation medal’ for, it said, his ‘sustained efforts’ during armed operations.

In a report, BBC cliamed that morale among Indian Army soldiers stationed in the Kashmiri state is very low.

“Many soldiers are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with their role in the disputed state, saying they fear they are effectively becoming an army of occupation,” it added.

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