India is cleansing Kashmir of Muslims: FO

Condemning continuous killing of Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), Pakistan said Hindu terrorist organisations such as RSS, its affiliates and the armed village defence committees were committing ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Muslims in the Jammu region.

In the weekly briefing of the foreign office here Thursday, Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said since 2014, when the Modi government took over, the Hindu terrorists have reportedly been empowered with full support from the state machinery, more so in the IOK, causing displacement of scores of Kashmiri Muslim families by design.

He maintained that All Parties Parliamentary Group on Kashmir, in the House of Commons, UK, will hold a three-hour debate on Thursday in which Kashmir issue and human rights violations in IOK will be discussed. This is the result of Pakistan’s efforts to sensitise the plight of Kashmiri people.

The prime minister is currently visiting Davos to participate in the World Economic Forum, where he held bilateral meetings with various leaders on the sidelines during which he highlighted human rights violations of defenceless Kashmiris in IOK at the hands of Indian occupation forces, he informed.

During the last two weeks, he said, many Kashmiris have been killed in fake encounters, house raids and custodial killings. This has been going on since 1947 to turn the Muslim majority Jammu district into a Muslim minority district. Genocide, state terrorism, settlement of non-Kashmiris and other tools are being employed to bring about demographic change, he added.

“We condemn atrocities perpetrated by Indian occupation forces and Hindu terrorists in IOK. Pakistan is constantly sensitising the world community on the grave violation of human rights of hapless Kashmiris in IOK.

In reference to co-chairing, Zakaria said, “We were proud to see Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy co-chair the WEF session.”