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Today's Paper | November 22, 2024

Updated 22 Dec, 2016 11:02pm

More than 150 killed in India-held Kashmir, 10,000 arrested or missing: FO

The Foreign Office on Thursday said that since the killing of young Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani on July 8 this year, more than 150 Kashmiris have been killed and above 10,000 have been arrested by the Indian security forces besides another 6,000 suffering pellet guns injuries.

“More than 10,000 Kashmiri youth have been arrested during last five months and there is no news about them whether they have been tortured and sent to the similar 'mass graves' that were discovered in 2009,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said while addressing a weekly press briefing.

He once again urged United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other such organisations to call India to account for grave human rights violations and defiance of the United Nations Security Council resolutions as well as the international human rights laws.

The spokesperson said more than 17,000 Kashmiris were injured, many of whom without any medical attention. Indian occupation forces and extremist Hindu terrorist organisations such as the RSS should be tried for their crimes against humanity, he demanded.

He said at an International European Kashmir Conference in Denmark last month, representatives of 500 various political and social organisations and the NGOs demanded the release of those arrested under lawless laws immediately and those blinded Kashmiris using pellet guns be brought to book.

Zakaria said reportedly, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP regime has started issuing domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu region as part of its nefarious designs to change the demographic composition of the territory.

This act of bringing material change in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir was a blatant violation of the UNSC resolutions on Kashmir, he added.

"Besides the violence, Pakistan had time and again also urged the international community to take notice of the material changes India had been carrying out in the disputed territory."

In addition to violating the UNSC resolutions and human rights laws, India had been disallowing any independent inquiry into the situation, Zakaria maintained.

To a question, the spokesperson said Secretary Foreign Affairs Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry would lead Pakistani delegation for the talks with China and Russia scheduled to be held in Russia on December 27. "During talks, the issues of common concerns including Afghanistan would be discussed."

He reiterated that peace in Afghanistan was of utmost importance to Pakistan and the latter had been extending all out cooperation in this regard.

Answering another question about a Pentagon report, the spokesperson said Pakistan did not allow its territory to be misused against any other state.

Pakistan's role and successes for elimination of terrorism and sacrifices in this struggle had been widely acknowledged by the international community including the United States, he remarked.

Responding to a question about the Indian prime minister's statement on Indian involvement for disintegration of Pakistan, he said the interference by Indian state actors in Pakistan was a proven fact that had been substantiated by the statements of Indian Prime Minister Modi and Ajit Doval and arrest of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jhadav.

He told media that around 728 Pakistanis were in Saudi jails on various charges; however the Pakistani embassy facilitated them for consular services as well as for negotiation with the employers to resolve the dispute.

About the ongoing settlements in West Bank by Israel, the spokesperson said since 1967, Pakistan had been strongly opposing the activities as those were the sheer violations of international laws.

Zakaria told media that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had concluded his three-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina wherein two leaderships discussed the ways to strengthen bilateral ties in multiple spheres.

About the status of Pakistani citizen arrested in the aftermath of an attack at Christmas market in Berlin, the spokesperson said there were clear reports that he had been released by the German authorities.

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