LONDON, Dec 11 (APP): Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) Mohammad Nafees Zakaria has said half-million Kashmiris were martyred by Maharaja Dogra’s forces along with Indian occupation forces and RSS (Hindu terrorist outfit of India) and one million Kashmiris were forcibly expelled from Jammu in 1947 that changed the demography.
He stated this while speaking at a seminar on Kashmir at High Commission, which
was organized to mark the International Day for Victims of Genocide and international
Human Rights Day observed on December 9,10 respectively.
Availing of the opportunity of the two international days of the UN, the seminar was organized to raised awareness about the plight of the Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).
The seminar was attended by a large number of people from different walks of life. Nafees Zakaria said the illegitimate landing of Indian forces in 1947 was also the beginning of an era of mass killings, mass blindings with pellet guns, mass rapes, disappearances, false encounters and associated human sufferings that continues unabated in Indian occupied Kashmir.
“All these atrocities are well documented by international human rights organisations and media while the victims still await justice”, he said.
Zakaria further said that the perpetual genocide of the Muslims in Indian occupied Kashmir continues.
He cautioned that India has been systematically changing the demography of Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK), in complete violation of international law and conventions, which Pakistan has already reported to the UN.
Mr Zakaria said Pakistan has rejected the bifurcation of IOK into two Union Territories as it was in complete violation of the UN Security Council Resolutions and Bilateral Agreements between India and Pakistan.
He reiterated Pakistan’s moral, political and diplomatic support to the just cause of self-determination of the Kashmiri people.
Mr Zakaria urged the audience to raise awareness about the Indian atrocities and ongoing humanitarian crisis in occupied Kashmir and be the voice of the voiceless and defenceless Kashmiris.
In his address, Dr Nazir Gilani, President Human Rights, JKCHR gave historical background of the Kashmir dispute and shared the history of legal debates on the issue.
Dr Gilani said India was sinning against the people of Kashmir on three fronts, namely, political vandalism, military aggression and cultural invasion.
He said India would have to revoke its unilateral measures taken in IOK since
August 5, 2019 as the pressure is mounting on it as evidenced in recent two UN reports critical of Indian human rights abuses in the IOK.
He condemned crimes against humanity being committed by Indian occupation forces against the Kashmiris and emphasized on raising awareness about the crisis by using all possible means.
A young woman of Kashmiri origin, Ms Uzma Rasool spoke on the ongoing human rights abuses being committed by Indian occupation forces.
She particularly narrated the ordeal of rape victims who are always Kashmiri Muslim women and girls. She recalled Kunan Pashpora mass rape incident of 1991 and several other rape incidents carried out by Indian forces with complete impunity.
Ms Uzma also gave a heart-rending account of the plight of pellet gun victims
comprising mostly young boys and girls.
She said while the victims lose their eyesight, the families are financially crippled and run into heavy debts while getting treatment for victims.
The right to health is a basic human right which is being denied to the Kashmiris by India, she said.
