Party urges UN to act over PoK crackdown

Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, chairman of the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP), has urged the United Nations to put pressure on Pakistan over what he described as a continuing crackdown and severe restrictions in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

In a video message, Kashmiri said he briefed the body on the situation in PoK and alleged that the region had remained under a lockdown for around 70 days. According to Kashmiri, restrictions had affected essential supplies and services, including medicines and other resources linked to daily life. He alleged that more than 110 people had been killed and hundreds forcibly disappeared during the unrest.

He said a delegation had requested the UN Human Rights Council to intervene and press Pakistan to halt what he called atrocities against the people of the region.

He also referred to two previous statements by the United Nations, saying the UN had called on Pakistani authorities to exercise restraint, take the demands of the Joint National Action Committee seriously, and engage in dialogue with protesters.

“Pakistan has always destabilised Pakistan due to its ego,” Kashmiri said, arguing that Islamabad would ultimately have to respond to international institutions over its actions in the region.

Addressing Pakistan’s leaders, he said the people of PoK would not surrender

to what he described as state repression.