India on Thursday rejected the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) recent comments on human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it has no right to comment on the country’s internal affairs. Analysts, in Islamabad, fear that India will not be disavowed from its policy of continuing brutality in the Occupied Kashmir.
India rejects OIC statement on Delhi violence as ‘selective, misleading’ https://t.co/q3p9Rqmlrk
— gopalkpuri (@gopalkpuri) February 28, 2020
Indian response to OIC was strong and unambiguous: “Our position is consistent on this matter and has no ambiguity. OIC has no locus standi in matters strictly internal to India, including that of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” said Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
Occupied Kashmir brutality: OIC rebuked for comments on ‘internal affairs’
“We have in the past also reiterated that OIC should refrain from making unwarranted references on India.” Indian spokesperson insisted.
New Delhi’s response comes after the Human Rights Body of the OIC on Tuesday called for an end to “gross and systematic human rights violations” in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Read more: OIC wants halt to Kashmir abuse by India
The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission urged the OIC to compel India to abandon efforts to alter the disputed region’s “geographic and demographic status,” allow fact-finding missions of the OIC and the UN, and “let Kashmiris exercise their legitimate right to self-determination.”
Concerns over demographic changes in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir have persisted since New Delhi scrapped the region’s autonomous political status last August and allowed outsiders to buy land and apply for government jobs in the disputed territory.
OIC sounds the alarm over Occupied Kashmir brutality
Earlier, the human rights body of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) wants a halt to Kashmir abuse by India. It demanded Tuesday that India be compelled to “halt rights violations” in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement on Twitter, the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) “urged the OIC to compel India to halt its gross and systematic human rights violations; refrain from altering the geographic and demographic status of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir; provide access to UN/OIC fact-finding missions and let Kashmiris exercise their legitimate right to self-determination.”
Read more: Genocide of Kashmiris: OIC’s Human Rights Commission condemns India
The IPHRC said it made these demands during an emergency meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir which was held via a video link on Monday.
Statement issued by the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on 4th September 2019 on the human rights situation in Occupied Jammu & Kashmir pic.twitter.com/1C3tHZ804T
— Pakistan High Commission Kenya (@PakinKenya) September 5, 2019
It welcomed a statement by the group which urged India to “immediately” halt security operations against the people of Jammu and Kashmir and respect basic human rights, refrain from changing the demographic structure of the disputed territory as well as settle the conflict under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Kashmir: Disputed region since 1947
The latest surge in violence in the disputed Himalayan valley this year has left over 100 suspected Kashmiri militants dead. Some 72 militants have been killed since the coronavirus pandemic emerged in the region on March 20.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China. Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965, and 1971 – two of them over Kashmir.
Some 70,000 people, mostly civilians, have died over the past 30 years in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, monitoring groups say.
Read more: India urged to withdraw media repressions in Occupied-Kashmir
The fighting is between Indian soldiers – who number around 500,000 on the ground – and freedom fighters wanting either independence or union with Pakistan.
Clashes between security forces and militants – which often escalate as demonstrators gather – have been a near-daily occurrence since India launched “Operation All Out” after the death of charismatic freedom fighter Burhan Wani in 2016.
Also, in the Siachen Glacier region in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A ceasefire took effect in 2003. Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan. According to several human rights groups, thousands have been killed in the conflict since 1989.
Anadolu with additional input by GVS News Desk
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