UN

Pakistan calls India’s use of ‘true picture’ a ploy to ‘divert attention’

“The Permanent Representative of Pakistan misled this Assembly by displaying this picture to spread falsehood about India.”

 

United Nations (New York): India on Monday presented to the UN General Assembly a counter photograph of Umar Faiyaz, a young Indian soldier from Jammu and Kashmir who was abducted and killed by militants, to counter Islamabad’s accusations on the Kashmir issue.

India slammed Pakistan for using a “fake picture” in the UN General Assembly to “push a completely fake” narrative, a day after its Permanent Representative, Madeeha Lodhi, presented an image of a girl from Gaza as a victim of pellet guns in Kashmir.

Exercising her right to reply, Pakistan’s Maleeha Lodhi, in a major goof-up, held up a photograph of a woman whose face was peppered with alleged pellet gun wounds. “This is the face of Indian democracy,” Lodhi had said of the picture.

The picture however was that of 17-year-old Rawya abu Joma’a of Gaza, a victim of an Israeli attack and was taken by award-winning American photojournalist Heidi Levine in July, 2014

“The Permanent Representative of Pakistan misled this Assembly by displaying this picture to spread falsehood about India. A fake picture to push a completely false narrative,” said Paulomi Tripathi, a junior Indian diplomat at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations. Tripathi took the floor of the General Assembly to exercise India’s right to reply to the blistering attack by Lodhi.

“The Permanent Representative of Pakistan, in her statement, yet again sought to divert attention from Pakistan’s role as the hub of global terrorism. She did so by callously holding up a picture of an injured girl,” Tripathi said.

“The picture was taken on 22 July 2014 by an American photographer Heidi Levine. This photograph was published by New York Times on March 24, 2015, under the caption ‘Conflict, Courage and Healing in Gaza’,” she said.

“In view of this cynical and misleading attempt by Pakistan, we are constrained to show this Assembly, a photograph that reflects the real picture of pain inflicted by the nefarious designs of Pakistan on India,” she said showing a picture of army soldier, Lieutenant Umar Fayaz. 22-year Fayaz, who was posted with 2 Rajputana Rifle, was abducted up from his house at Harmein in Kulgam in May. The body of the young officer was later found three kilometres from his house.

“This is a real and not a fake picture of Lt Umar Fayaz. A young officer from the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir. Umar Fayaz was kidnapped at a wedding celebration. He was brutally tortured and killed by Pakistan supported terrorists in May 2017,” Tripathi said showing the picture.

“This is a true picture. It portrays a harsh and tragic reality. A picture of terrorism emanating from across our borders that the people of India, especially in the state of Jammu and Kashmir have to struggle with, every day.”

“This is the reality which the Permanent Representative of Pakistan sought to obfuscate. The true face of Pakistan is not hidden from anyone,” Tripathi said as she displayed the two pictures again to the international community.

 

Pakistan replies:

 

In its right to reply, Pakistan’s mission, in its latest rejoinder to India, said, “No matter how many times you repeat a lie, it does not and cannot hide the truth.”

According to a report in The Dawn, the Pakistani representative claimed the Indian representative had “once again chosen to divert the attention of the international community from the real issue ─ the real issue of human life, of human eyes, of children and infants blinded forever, of women raped and elderly killed every day by the reign of brutality unleashed by occupation forces in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.”

“The real issue is of Security Council resolutions, which India refuses to implement,” the Pakistani representative, Tipu Usman, said.

“No matter how many times you repeat a lie, it does not and cannot hide the truth. Raking up debate on pictures has backfired,” he maintained.

“India, who kills and tortures innocent Kashmiris, is seeking to hide behind a photograph,” he claimed, adding: “Indian state terrorism has been amply documented by successive human rights reports from various international organisations. There are thousands of those pictures for everyone to see.”

“India’s diversionary tactics will not change the situation on ground. It is the situation on ground that India has to answer for. It is its war crimes that India has to answer for. It is the call for legality, morality and conscience that it has to answer for,” he asserted.

The Pakistani representative also accused the Indian leaders of “pursuing a policy of state sponsorship of terrorism, funding and arming terrorist organisations like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and the Jamaatul Ahrar to launch terror attacks inside Pakistan” as part of its strategy to become “a regional hegemon”, The Dawn reported.

“India is churning out operatives of mayhem from its factories of terror,” he said. “Operatives like Commander Jadhav, who are spreading terror and violence across Pakistan. We caught Jadhav red-handed, we will catch others as well and bring them to justice,” he said.

 

 

(WIth inputs from PTI)

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