Pak misleading OIC on J&K: India at UN

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 2

India today said the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) was misled by Pakistan during its submissions at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Exercising its right of reply to the statements made by Pakistan and the OIC, Indian diplomat Pawankumar Badhe rejected the reference to the UT of J&K in the OIC statement. The 57-member organisation, he said, had no locus standi to comment on matters related to J&K, which was an integral and inalienable part of India.

Move Regrettable

It’s regrettable that the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Countries continues to allow itself to be exploited by Pakistan to indulge in anti-India propaganda. — Envoy at UNHRC

He found it regrettable that “OIC continues to allow itself to be exploited by Pakistan to indulge in anti-India propaganda’’. On February 24, Indian diplomats had criticised the Pakistani statement and gave fresh evidence of Islamabad’s heavy hand against civil society activists. In September 2020, they recalled that UN human rights experts had condemned the enforced disappearance of Idris Khattak, a former consultant with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Khattak had himself worked on reports on enforced disappearances before disappearing himself in November 2019, “in a cruel twist of fate”. The UN human rights experts have called upon the Pakistani authorities to end Khattak’s secret detention at the earliest.

India said the pandemic has changed the way the 46th UNHRC Session is being conducted and accused Pakistan of misuse of the forum “for its propaganda against India”, aimed at diverting the council’s attention from its own serious violations of human rights. Recently, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the key suspect in murder of Daniel Pearl, was allowed to go scot free.

India also said Pakistan has provided pensions to dreaded and listed terrorists out of state funds and has the dubious distinction of hosting the largest number of UN-proscribed terrorists.

India also asked the UNHRC to ask Pakistan why the size of its minority communities had drastically shrunk since independence and why some communities have been subjected to draconian blasphemy laws, systemic persecution and forced conversions.