India conducting state terrorism in Kashmir, Pakistan tell U.N.
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 30 (APP): In a hard-hitting response to India’s attempt to link Pakistan with terrorism, a Pakistani delegate Wednesday asked New Delhi to stop its state-sponsored terrorism in Indian Held Kashmir as the two South Asian neighbours engaged in a verbal duel in the UN General Assembly.Exercising his right of reply to Indian External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna’s speech earlier in the day, Ambassador Amjad Hussain Sial, the Pakistani deputy permanent representative, told the 192-member assembly that India also supported terrorist elements in neighbouring countries that created problems in the region.“India is also the country which conceived, created and nurtured the most lethal terrorist organization, which introduced suicide bombings in our region,” he said, in a clear reference to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
“Still India has the nerve to give lectures on morality to others,” Sial said in a sharp rebuttal to Krishna’s claim that Kashmir is the target of “Pakistan-sponsored militancy and terrorism.” Indian delegate Manish Gupta did speak in right of reply, but did not specifically address Pakistan’s statement about India’s role in creating the terrorist outfit. Referring to Krishna’s self-serving claim that Jammu and Kashmir was part of India, the Pakistan delegate said nothing was farther from the truth.
The disputed territory was on the agenda of the United Nations, which had passed resolutions to that effect. The first Prime Minster of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, had also made commitments, reaffirmation of which Pakistan welcomed noting that Kashmir was not the property of either India or Pakistan, but belonged to the Kashmiri people.
He went on to say that India failed to fulfil its commitments, but still had the audacity not only to claim democratic credentials, but also to aspire to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Pakistan had only echoed non-governmental organizations and the media as to the ongoing situation concerning human rights in India, as well as Kashmir.
Sial quoted a number of statements made by the international media and civil society groups expressing concern over the loss of life in indian Occupied Kashmir and calling for an immediate end to violence.
For example, Amnesty International had called on Indian authorities to take steps and respect the right to life, while Human Rights Watch said that Kashmiris had been left without any justice.
Despite brute force by security forces, the Pakistan delegate pointed out, Kashmiris did not support the occupation of their land and persisted in their struggle for the right for self-determination, the Pakistan delegate pointed out.
India has maligned Pakistan on terrorism in order to hide its own behaviour, he went on to say. Pakistan’s role in fighting terrorism has been stated by the international community, and security forces in Pakistan continued to try to make the world safer, although countries continued to provide weapons and money to create havoc.
The Indian Government was advised to take stock of its own policies and conduct, including supporting terrorism, Sial told representatives of member states on the last day of the general debate.
India’s policies resulted in systematic human rights abuses, and the killing and maiming of Kashmiris, he said. Pakistan remained committed to peaceful dialogue with India, including about the Kashmire dispute, which would bring lasting peace not only between Pakistan and India, but beyond their borders.
Addressing human rights for the people of IHK was the first step, the Pakistan delegate said. Gupta, the Indian delegate, accused Pakistan of making “false allegations” about his country. In fact, he said, Pakistan needed to tackle many of its own problems, rather than make comments on what he called the internal affairs of India.
Gupta claimed that free elections in Jammu and Kashmir had been conducted. Returning to the floor, Sial, the Pakistani delegate, said that his country did not interfere in internal affairs of other countries, but that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir was not an internal dispute.
Pakistan had the right to provide support to the people of Kashmir and their right to self-determination, he said. The Indian delegate’s reference justifying occupation was not only rejected by the people of Kashmir, but by the Security Council.
“The ongoing indigenous peaceful, unarmed, non-violent and widespread movement for azadi i.e. freedom in Indian occupied Kashmir has once again proved that despite facing decades of repression and some of the worst forms of human rights violations at the hands of Indian security forces, Kashmiris refuse to accept any other solution than the exercise of their just right to self-determination,” the Pakistan delegate said.
India, he said, had no other option but to implement Security Council’s demand for free and fair plebiscite under the UN auspices. Sial declared that Pakistan would continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to the just struggle of Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination.
Associated Press Of Pakistan ( Pakistan's Premier NEWS Agency ) - India conducting state terrorism in Kashmir, Pakistan tell U.N.