ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Tehmina Janjua, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Monday severely criticised India for “sponsoring state-terrorism” in India-held Kashmir (IHK), at the Human Rights Council.
Ambassador Janjua underscored the life and liberty of Kashmiris was being governed by draconian laws such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which allows arbitrary detention, searches, seizures, shoot to kill on suspicion and use of lethal force. “More than 700,000 Indian occupation personal are imposing, with complete impunity, a reign of terror against innocent civilians, children, women and the elderly,” she underlined.
She said Khurram Pervez, chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, was stopped from leaving India, last Thursday, to speak at the council on the prevailing situation in held Kashmir. She referred to the open letter by 52 international intellectuals, including Noam Chomsky, which calls for Parvez’s release and stressed that actions against Parvez were symptomatic of the escalated repression by institutions of the state since July 8.
“India obviously has much to hide,” she pointed out. Janjua said India had flouted all international human and humanitarian law obligations and was “sponsoring” terrorism in its neighbouring countries.
“Pakistan has given evidence to the international community of India’s involvement in terrorist activities inside Pakistan by supporting terrorism in Balochistan and Karachi,” she said, adding that the evidence also includes information about the links of Indian intelligence and security agencies with the Taliban.
