ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said that India is trying to bring demographic changes to institute Hindu domination in Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK).
He expressed these views in a letter written to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, elaborating India’s blatant violation of UN Charter and international covenants and conventions on human rights in IOK.
In the letter, the Advisor said, “India plans for demographic changes in IOK. A recent proposal by the 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs of the Indian Government to permanently settle the ‘West Pakistan refugees’ in IOK has created unrest among the people of the Kashmir Valley.
He said, “The so-called West Pakistan refugees do not hail from the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Government is trying slowly and gradually to integrate them into Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which is not only a violation of the state Constitution, but also a violation of Security Council resolutions on the Kashmir dispute, which forbid any material change until the implementation of the resolutions.”
“Another attempt to change the demography of Indian-occupied Kashmir is a move in which children of Hindu families who do not belong to Jammu and Kashmir are being issued permanent resident certificates. To date, 500 such certificates have been issued to students in the Kishtwar district of Jammu, out of a proposed 5,000 in total,” the Adviser said.
He informed that, “Recently, a new proposal has been floated to establish ‘Sainik’ colonies by allotting land to retired army personnel who have served in Kashmir for a minimum of three years and to the families of army personnel who died during fighting in Kashmir. Under the guise of a welfare measure, an attempt is being made to settle non-Kashmiris in IOK.”
Sartaj Azizi underscored that, “Non-Kashmiri Hindu industrialists are being allotted land for establishing industries in areas other than industrial zones whereas the Government of India has asked the state government to earmark land for separate towns in the Valley for Kashmiri pandits, who are presently settled in different Indian states.”
“Land for separate townships was identified in seven places, out of which land at three places has been shortlisted. While the Hurriyat leadership in IOK and the general public have always welcomed the return of Kashmiri pandits to their ancestral lands, they oppose the idea of separate townships, which would not only enable the Indian Government to settle non-Kashmiris there but would also enable manipulation on religious, social and political lines,” Sartaj Aziz said.
The Adviser apprised that, “The human rights situation in Occupied Kashmir has been a matter of profound concern for a long time, particularly the large-scale killing and blinding of hundreds of Kashmiris including children, using pellet guns.”
“Injuries and maimings, disappearances, false encounters, arrests and custodial killings and the rape of Kashmiri women, used as a tool to terrorize them, as well as systematic changes in demography to convert a Muslim-majority territory into a Muslim-minority state, are commonplace,” he added.
He stated that, “India has not only constantly violated the Charter of the United Nations and all the international covenants and conventions on human rights in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, but also blatantly disrespected Security Council and United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan resolutions on Kashmir.”
Sartaj Aziz said, “It is the obligation of the United Nations to implement the Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir and to fulfill the promises made to the Kashmiris seventy years ago. The resolution of issue will not only end the immense sufferings of the millions of people of Jammu and Kashmir, but also bring peace and stability in South Asia.”
The letter, sent by Pakistan’s permanent mission in New York, was circulated by the President of Security Council amongst all member states. DNA