ISLAMABAD: The General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Saturday called for a dialogue between Pakistan and India aimed to resolve the Kashmir dispute and urged New Delhi to lift curfew and other restrictions imposed on the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir in early August.

The organisation also called for resumption of telephone and internet services in the disputed Himalayan region.

A statement released to the media said: “It (OIC) calls for the immediate lifting of the curfew, restoration of communication and respect for the fundamental rights of Kashmiris.”

The OIC General Secretariat has been following with concern developments in Jammu and Kashmir as a result of the unilateral decision taken by India on Aug 5 of revoking Article 370, thereby ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, said the statement.

“The General Secretariat reaffirms the United Nations Security Council resolutions on the internationally recognised status of Jammu and Kashmir dispute and its final (resolution) through a UN-supervised plebiscite,” it added.

The OIC General Secretariat also stressed the need for resumption of the dialogue process between Pakistan and India, which was a prerequisite for development, peace and stability in South Asia.

The latest OIC statement on Kashmir came amidst criticism in Pakistan over the Muslim bloc’s lukewarm response to India’s move to annex occupied Kashmir.

Former Senate chairman Mian Raza Rabbani on Friday even suggested that it was time for Pakistan to pull out of the bloc of Muslim countries.

Taking part in a debate in the upper house of parliament, he said the “bubble of an Islamic Ummah has burst” and Pakistan should reappraise its relationship with the Muslim world.

Pakistan approached the OIC immediately after India had revoked the special status enjoyed by the occupied region. After a meeting of an OIC group held on Aug 6 in Jeddah, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the organisation recognised that the Indian government’s aggression had put more than 1.5 billion people of South Asia at risk.

A statement issued by the OIC General Secretariat on the occasion of Eidul Azha expressed concern over the curtailment of religious freedoms of Muslims in held Kashmir, terming it a “serious violation of international human rights law”.

It denounced the “complete lockdown” imposed by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir even on the occasion of Eidul Azha, when Muslims in the region were prevented from participating in a religious congregation.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2019