Jammu & Kashmir
India says OIC statement on Kashmir conflict ‘reeks of bigotry’
New Delhi: Reacting to the statement of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the Kashmir conflict and abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, India said that it “reeks of bigotry”.
India’s External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said such statements only expose the OIC as an organization devoted to a “communal agenda being pursued through militancy”.
On the third anniversary of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and its bifurcation, the OIC called on the international community to take steps to resolve the Kashmir conflict in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.
“The statement issued by the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Jammu and Kashmir today reeks of bigotry,” Bagchi said.
He asserted that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir “is and will remain an integral and inalienable” part of India.
“As a result of long-awaited changes three years ago, it today reaps the benefits of socio-economic growth and development,” Bagchi said.
Earlier, OIC in a statement said, “August 5, 2022, marks the third year of the illegal and unilateral actions taken in Jammu and Kashmir by the Government of India, which were followed by additional ‘unlawful measures including illegal demographic’ changes.
“Such illegal actions can neither alter the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir nor prejudice the legitimate right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people,” the statement said as this August 5, 2022, marks the third year of abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution when the erstwhile state was divided into two union territories- JK and Ladakh.
“Recalling the resolutions of the Islamic Summit and Council of Foreign Ministers on Jammu and Kashmir, the General Secretariat reaffirms the OIC’s solidarity with the Kashmiri people in the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination. It calls for the respect of their fundamental freedoms and basic human rights and for the reversal of all illegal and unilateral measures taken on or after 5 August 2019,” the OIC said.
The General Secretariat reiterates its call on the international community to take concrete steps for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the statement concludes.
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