Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan , in a telephonic conversation with the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that Kashmir is not a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan but an internationally recognized dispute, reported the Dawn.
During his conversation with the UN Chief, he also expressed ‘deep shock and grave concern’ at the human rights violations committed by Indian forces in Kashmir, a statement issued by his office said.
The premier during the conversation “underscored [the] UN’s role to end these violations”, the statement added.
Citing the recent escalation in violence in the restive valley, especially the killing of more than a dozen civilians and injuries to over 300 protestors, Khan termed the situation as “unacceptable”.
“Jammu and Kashmir dispute is not a bilateral issue between Pakistan and India but an internationally recognised dispute and an outstanding agenda item in the UN Security Council,” the statement quoted the prime minister as telling the UN chief.
Khan urged Guterres to intervene and “stop India from perpetrating state repression, violence and brute force against Kashmiri youth, women and children”.
He demanded that a Commission of Inquiry be urgently dispatched to investigate the situation in Kashmir, as was recommended in a June 2018 report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He also reiterated the proposal to appoint a special UN representative for resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
The premier expressed the fear that the imposition of presidential rule in Kashmir could “further aggravat[e] the already serious situation”.
Seven civilians were killed after armed forces opened fire on civilian protesters near the site of a gunfight in Kharpora Sarnoo village of Pulwama district last week. Three militants and an army man were killed in the gunfight.
The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) while condemning the Pulwama Civilian Killings, in a statement, called it a ‘wicked terrorist act’.
In a statement, the OIC said, “The OIC General Secretariat condemned this terrorist act and called upon the international community to play its role in order to reach a just and lasting solution to the conflict in Kashmir, in accordance with the relevant international resolutions adopted by the OIC and the UN Security Council, and fulfill the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.”
National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah while reacting on the killings had said that it is a massacre and there is no other way to describe it.
Earlier, Abdullah while reacting to the civilian killings had said that it was ‘another blood soaked weekend in Kashmir‘.
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti while reacting to the civilian killings said that there would be no probe which would bring back the dead. She also asked that ‘is this what was expected from the Governor rule’.
She also said that no country can win a war by killing its own people.
Peoples’ Conference chief Sajad Lone while reacting on the civilian killings said that the administration seriously needs to evaluate the cost of such operations. He added that ‘hope the administration gives up its ‘Rambo mindset‘.
Police, in their statement said that they were ‘deeply grieved’ by the loss of civilian lives, however, claimed that the crowd came ‘dangerously close‘ to the gunfight site
