Pakistan is deeply concerned over the continued incarceration and deteriorating health conditions of Kashmiri leaders including founding leader of Kashmiri organization “Dukhtaran-i-Millat” and the “Iron Lady of Kashmir”, Ms. Asiya Andrabi; leader and founder of the Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, Mr. Shabbir Ahmed Shah; and prominent leaders such as Mr. Yasin Malik; Masarat Alam Bhat; Mohammad Ashraf Sehraie and others, who have been languishing under squalid conditions in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in infamous Tihar and other jails.
“India’s systemic crackdown of the legitimate and indigenous freedom movement in Kashmir cannot be given a free pass,” Ambassador Munir Akram said in a letter to the UN chief, released on Thursday.
Read more: At UN, Pakistan highlights Kashmiris, Palestinians fight for self-determination
“With Indian judiciary showing a little proclivity to stand up for the rights of Kashmiris, there is an imminent and real threat to the life of Ms. Andrabi, and her associates, who are staring at a real possibility of a judicial murder,” the Pakistani envoy wrote.
“The international community cannot allow this summary execution of a human rights defender who has spent a lifetime speaking up for the rights of the occupied people.”
#Pakistan is deeply concerned over deteriorating health conditions of incarcerated Kashmiri leadership. Imprisonment & torturing on basis of their political ideology & struggle against illegal Indian occupation is a true reflection of RSS-BJP regime.
🔗 https://t.co/DRxjTEvTp6— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) December 28, 2020
Many other senior Kashmiri leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq remain under house arrest.
These Kashmiri leaders have been illegally arrested over malicious, false, and fabricated charges by the Indian Government through invoking draconian laws promulgated in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).
Read more: PM Imran Khan thanks China for its unwavering stand on Kashmir
Imprisonment and torturing of Kashmiri leaders on the basis of their political ideology and struggle against illegal Indian occupation is a true reflection of the extremist mindset of the RSS-BJP regime which has no respect for the human rights of the Kashmiri people.
Pakistan calls upon the international community, particularly the United Nations, ICRC, and human rights and humanitarian organizations, to take notice of the Indian government’s inhuman treatment of the Kashmiri leaders and raise its voice for their immediate release from illegal Indian detention.
Read more: Op-ed: China can’t make up its mind about its policies on Kashmir
Ambassador Akram called on the UN secretary-general to:
(i) urge India to drop fabricated charges against Ms. Andrabi her husband and her associates, and provide her complete legal protections, including the right to a free and fair trial conducted under due process;
(ii) urge India to immediately halt its persecution of political leaders, activists, and human rights defenders;
(iii) immediately release the incarcerated Kashmiri political leadership and allow them to freely express the wishes of the Kashmiri people;
(iv) demand from India to hold accountable the relevant officials responsible for arbitrary arrests, inhuman treatment, torture, and illegal detention, under an UN-sponsored independent investigation;
(v) remove the draconian laws enabling Indian occupation forces to continue human rights violations with impunity;
(vi) call on UN’s human rights machinery to look into Ms. Andrabi’s, and other human rights defenders’, cases and ask India to grant UN observers, international human rights and humanitarian organizations and international media access to Kashmir to independently ascertain the situation;
(vii) call on India to stop branding the indigenous movement of freedom of Kashmiri people, led by people like Ms. Andrabi, as terrorism.
(viii) India’s systemic crackdown of the legitimate and indigenous freedom movement in Kashmir cannot be given a free pass. India’s blatant attempt to portray Kashmiris’ struggles as terrorism, and prosecute its leaders through concocted cases, is a clear violation of the UN Charter, international human rights, and humanitarian law. It’s a familiar strategy employed by all occupiers, but ultimately, it’s destined to fail.
Read more: Pakistani soldier killed in clashes at Kashmir border
APP with additional input from GVS news desk