‘Have a look at Indian atrocities, take notice!’

Senator wants international powers to take notice of Indian atrocities in Indian-occupied Kashmir

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed has urged the European Union and champions of human rights to take notice of the gross violations of human rights and atrocities of the Indian forces in the Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Sayed was addressing a meeting of the Functional Committee on Human Rights with European Union Special Representative to Pakistan (EUSR) for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis. Sayed presided over the meeting in absence of committee chairman Afrasiab Khattak. Senators Farhatullah Babar and Mrs Suriya Amiruddin were also present on the occasion. National Assembly Human Rights Committee Chairman MNA Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk also attended the meeting.

The senator welcomed the delegation and stated that Pakistan is committed to the promotion of human rights, rule of law and justice. He, however, pointed out that the negative narrative against Islam and racism in the west is creating inconvenience for Muslims in Pakistan.

He expressed his satisfaction over good collaboration between Pakistan and European Union on different issues and expressed the hope that bilateral relations between the two would grow further in future. He also thanked the EU for its support to Pakistan on GSP Plus and stated that issues of Human Rights and rule of law are high on our agenda and government is making all out efforts to address the issues.

“Pakistan is the freest Muslim democracy in the Muslim world”, Mushahid remarked, adding that smooth transition of power from one elected democratic government to the other is a manifestation of the fact that Pakistan strongly believes in democracy and rule of law.

Virk said that over whelming majority of the country wants rule of law and no discrimination on basis of colour, creed or religion. The Constitution of Pakistan, he said, guarantees human rights and there exists an independent judiciary and vibrant civil society.

Senators Farhatullah Babar and Suriya Amiruddin also expressed their views. Senator Babar said that Pakistan is signatory to different Human Rights Conventions. He pointed out that the violation of Human Right by Indian forces in IOK need to be looked into. Senator Suriya stated that policies were being framed to bring the women folk into the mainstream.

Earlier, Lambrinidis informed the members of the committee about the purpose of his visit. He said that this visit provided us an opportunity to interact with policy makers, media community and political leadership and exchanged views on matters pertaining to Human Rights and rule of law.