BRUSSELS: Speakers at a seminar on Sunday called for the implementation of United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (UNHCR) latest report on the human rights violations in India-held Kashmir (IHK).
The seminar was organised by Kashmir Council Europe (KC-EU) in connection with the International Day of Human Rights in Brussels – the European Headquarters.
The speakers included senior Kashmiri leader Sardar Siddique, Kashmir Info Chairman Mir Shahjahan, Kashmir Council EU senior leader Chaudhry Khalid Joshi, Belgian parliamentarian Dr Zahoor Manzoor, Councilor of Brussels local body Amir Naeem Sunny, Kashmiri figure Raja Khalid and social person Saleem Meman.
Addressing the gathering, they said that India did not follow the latest UN’s report on human rights in Kashmir and also sought an international investigation into human rights violations at the hands of Indian forces. “The UN should play its role for prevention of the [human rights] violations.”
All the criminals involved in the violations should also be tried through the international court of law, the speakers maintained.
An international investigation into severe violence in IHK is a long-lasting demand of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the speakers said and called for a final political solution to the dispute through meaningful dialogue that includes the people of Kashmir.
They also appreciated the efforts of Kashmir Council EU, headed by Ali Raza Syed, to highlight the Kashmir issue, especially human rights violations in held Kashmir.
It is pertinent to mention here that the UN, in its first-ever human rights report on Jammu and Kashmir in June 2018, had called for an urgent need to address past and ongoing human rights violations as well as abuses in IHK.
The speakers on Sunday asked the international community, including UN, to pressurise India for implementation of UN’s resolutions on the disputed territory in order to provide the right to self-determination to its people. “The international community should immediately intervene and stop human rights violation in IHK and play an effective role for a just solution to the [Kashmir] dispute,” they urged.