LONDON: Pakistan High Commissioner (PHC) to the United Kingdom (UK) Syed Ibne Abbas on Wednesday testified at the UK Parliament on human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).
According to a PHC statement issued here, All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Kashmir Chairperson MP Chris Leslie chaired the meeting.
The testimony was made before the APPG on Kashmir that met to take stock of the recent unrest in IOK. Members of House of Lords, members of parliament (MP), members of civil society, and representatives of human rights organisations were present during the Oral Evidence Session.
In his testimony, Syed Ibne Abbas forcefully raised the issue of gross human rights violations in IOK, urging the international community to take note of the atrocities and to raise its voice for the voiceless people of Kashmir.
Abbas termed the situation in IOK a human catastrophe beyond description. He said that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory as recognised by the United Nations (UN) and the international community.
The salient points raised by the high commissioner are as following:
-The Indian’s military occupation of the state is illegal.
-India accepted the UN’s resolutions but has avoided implementing them through obfuscation, diversion, deceit and aggression.
-India is refusing a bilateral dialogue with Pakistan.
-With the largest army concentration, India’s brutal occupation of Kashmir has resulted in the killing of more than 100,000 innocent Kashmiris.
He added that tortures, illegal incarceration, enforced disappearances and mass blinding of innocent Kashmiri’s by use of pellet guns show that Indian brutality knows no bounds.
Appreciating the APPG on Kashmir’s initiative, the high commissioner stated, “I am sure this group’s effort to document the precarious human rights situation in Kashmir is both important and appropriate. It is also in line with the British human rights values and its commitment to uphold the same at home and abroad.”
This was the second testimony on human rights violations in IOK given by the PHC to UK in the last seven months. The testimony, along with other findings will form the basis of a written report on the human rights violations in IOK to be published by the APPG on Kashmir in the next few months.
This would be the first such report produced by any British Parliamentary Group (BPG). It was intended to form an authoritative, balanced and comprehensive account of the current situation in IOK, besides providing a valuable resource for parliamentarians in Britain and elsewhere.
APPG on Kashmir Chairperson MP Chris Leslie expressed his desire to complete the report as soon as possible. He appreciated PHC London’s cooperation in preparing the report.
MPs and Lords present on the occasion expressed serious concerns over the human rights abuses committed by the Indian security forces in IOK.
Dr Ijaz Hussain, an academic, gave a briefing to the attendees on the salient features of the recently released UN Human Rights Report on Kashmir.
MP Chris Leslie, MP Jack Brereton, MP Debbie Abraham, MP Imran Hussain, MP Sarah Champion, MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, MP Liz McInnes, MP Khalid Mahmood, Lord Nazir Ahmed, Lord Qurban Hussain, MP Vernon Coaker, MP Stephen Timms, MP Jim McMahon, MP Faisal Rashid and MP Julie Cooper, Raja Najabat Hussain, Jammu and Kashmir Self Determination Movement International (JKSDMI) Chairman Simrandeep Singh were the British Parliamentarians who attended the briefing.
