ISLAMABAD: Terming the low voter turnout in the recently concluded civic bodies elections in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) as the demise of Indian farcical poll politics, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan called for United Nations (UN) sponsored plebiscite to determine the Kashmiris’ will for their future.
“India must read the loud and clear message stemming from the overwhelming rejection of the poll drama and take steps for granting Kashmir its right to self determination,” the AJK president said while addressing a seminar titled “UN Report on Human Rights Violation in IoK: Demographic Changes and Social Implications”.
The seminar organised by Pakistan House was also addressed by London-based Jammu and Kashmir Council President Dr Nazir Gilani, world known human rights advocate and novelist Janne Teller, representative of Syed Ali Shah Gillani in Pakistan Syed Abdullah Gillani and Pakistan House President Rana Athar.
President Sardar said that anger against the illegal occupation of India and the atrocities of its forces has reached its climax. “The Kasmiris adequately demonstrated in the fraudulent Punchayat elections by boycotting them,” he stated.
He said that most of the constituencies remained uncontested as pro election parties have failed to find contestants. The people of Kashmir don’t want elections of any kind in the occupied territory except the plebiscite that was promised to them in the resolutions passed by the UN Security Council.
Giving details of massive human rights violations in IoK, he said that pellet guns are being used ruthlessly to punish the youth of Kashmir for demanding their right of self determination.
Quoting a report published by New York Times, President Sardar said that India has blinded more civilians with pellet guns more than any other regime in the recorded history of mankind. Similarly, Al Jazeera reported that 6,000 people of all ages mostly teenagers have lost their eyesight either fully or partially and Hiba Nisar was the youngest of the victims.
“The 18 months old victim of a pellet gun, Hiba Nisar, did not even know what happened to her when she was hit in the arms of her mother,” he narrated.
“These incidents reflect the rising graph of human rights violation in IoK. Kashmiris are being killed, maimed and tortured in order to terrorise them to accept Indian slavery,” he said.
Commenting on the recent report compiled by the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), the president said that the report has taken significant steps in exposing Indian sponsored terrorism in Kashmir but this was just a tip of the iceberg as it has not been able to record the full horror that visits Kashmiri people every day.
“The UN report followed by another similar report compiled by All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in the House of Commons clearly indicted India for gross violations of human rights in Kashmir,” he maintained.
He said that these reports have also exploded the myth that India is unassailable for her abuse of human rights. It would be very difficult for India now to face the overwhelming condemnation and stifle the voice of the people of Kashmir.