Sartaj slams Indian attempts to bring demographic changes to occupied Kashmir
- By Web Desk -
- May 13, 2017
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday urged the United Nations to take notice of Indian attempts to bring demographic changes to Indian Occupied Kashmir.
The Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in a letter to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has specifically pointed out the issuance of permanent residence certificates to non-residents, allotment of land to retired Indian army personnel and issuance of land to non-Kashmiris in occupied territory.
Sartaj Aziz also mentioned the establishment of separate townships for Kashmiri pundits and settlement of West Pakistan refugees to convert the Muslim majority into a minority to preempt the results of the UN administered plebiscite.
Read More: Spontaneous protests wrongfoot police, loosening India’s grip on Kashmir
The adviser stressed that the non-implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions was leading to a grave human tragedy in occupied Kashmir.
He said implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions is only way to end the immense sufferings of millions of Kashmiris in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and bring peace and stability to South Asia.
Pakistan has also urged the UN to address the deteriorating situation in occupied Kashmir.
Recently in a meeting of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) ambassadors with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi said the escalating tension in the occupied valley can destabilize South Asia.
She called for a peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute to avert any crisis in the region.
The Pakistani envoy said Kashmir issue is a priority for the OIC to address.
Images of students confronting police on campuses have come to symbolise Kashmiri protests against Indian rule, in what security officials and separatist leaders say is a dangerous new phase of the conflict.
The sharp rise in violence in recent weeks is more spontaneous than before, complicating the task of Indian security forces trained largely in counter-insurgency and poorly equipped to contain broader unrest.
A political stalemate in India’s only Muslim-majority state is a further hurdle to resolving the long-running Kashmir dispute, as is rising Hindu nationalism in some parts of India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.