Accusing Pakistan of fomenting trouble in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Pakistan would have to answer for its ‘human rights’ violation in Balochistan and the Pakistani side of the Kashmir.
“The root cause of unrest in Kashmir is cross-border terrorism which is being encouraged by our neighbouring country,” the Indian premier was quoted by the AFP. Modi also he claimed that there was enough evidence to prove that Islamabad was fuelling unrest in the region.
The IOK has been under a curfew since protests broke out over the killing last month of a popular freedom leader Burhan Wani. The unrest has resulted in the death of over sixty people.
Modi also promised to look into the grievances of those living there after meeting with national political parties to find ways of ending the ongoing violence in the troubled state.
“Since the time terrorism has started in Kashmir… so many sophisticated weapons have been seized by our security forces and so many foreign terrorists gunned down… Pakistan can speak a million lies but the world will not accept these,” he said in a statement.India has rejected United Nations Human Rights Council’s request for a visit to occupied Kashmir to investigate human rights violations in the region, mentioned a Times of India report today.
According to the report, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said that the Indian government had received a letter from the UNHRC, requesting a visit to the Indian-
held Kashmir.
The foreign minister had raised the matter in an all-party conference called on Friday to discuss the prevailing violence in the region.
It was reported that all the parties unanimously rejected any third-party arbitration in the matter.
A few days ago, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had written letters to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, urging them to make efforts to end the persistent and egregious violations of the basic human rights in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), the Pakistani foreign ministry had said in a statement.
Indian authorities had suspended all mobile telephone services except postpaid connections of state-run BSNL, citing possible protests after Friday prayers.
Since July, dozens of Kashmiri youth have lost their eyesight after Indian forces resorted to using pellet guns on unarmed civilians.
Doctors at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital have treated over 360 pellet victims since Wani was martyred and have performed over 400 eye surgeries.
Devastated by the atrocities, the doctors had also earlier protested at the Government Medical College Srinagar holding up placards reading “Hear our silence, see our blindness” and “Stop killing innocent kids”.
