ISLAMABAD: Members of the European Parliament on Saturday, taking note of the alarming situation in Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK), has called for trade and travel sanctions on India.
The Co-Chair of Friends of Kashmir Group in the EU Parliament, Richard Corbett, called for utilising all possible means to mount pressure on India to ease the military curfew in Occupied Kashmir. He proposed the imposition of trade sanctions on New Delhi and restrictions on the travel of those involved in committing human rights violations and acts of terrorism in IOK.
Corbett was speaking to a conference jointly organised by Friends of Kashmir Group in the European Parliament and the Jammu-Kashmir Self-Determination Movement in Brussels.
The Friends of Kashmir Group also proposed that a resolution be presented in the EU regarding the situation in the occupied valley. Last month, members of this group visited Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). During the visit, EU members had a chance to meet the victims of unprovoked attacks from India on the Line of Control and the relatives of those who had lost their lives in these attacks. The group also met a wide range of civil society members including journalists, physicians, teachers, students and lawyers to collect firsthand information about the area.
They called upon the Indian government to provide a similar kind of access in IOK so as to independently verify claims about lack of food, medicines and other items in the Occupied Valley.
Those who spoke at the conference included Anthea McIntyre, Shaffaq Mohammed, John Howarth, Irena Von Weise, Theresa Griffin and Raja Najabat Hussain.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan was also present on the occasion and welcomed the decision of the European Parliament to hold a debate on the situation in IOK.
Khan said that the decisions reflected growing concerns in Europe over the deteriorating human rights situation in IOK and warned about the prolonged siege turning into genocide. He said all developments in the occupied territory fit into the definition and criteria of genocide and called for swift action by the international community to intervene and prevent a catastrophe.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had revoked the constitutional autonomy of Occupied Kashmir on August 5 and imposed a military curfew in the Valley, imprisoning thousands of Kashmiris.