New Delhi: India lodged Monday a strong protest with the UN Rights Office over its report on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and asserted that it is merely a continuation of the earlier ‘false and motivated’ narrative and ignores the core issue of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
Last year, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its first-ever report on Kashmir and in an update of that report it claimed Monday that ‘neither India nor Pakistan have taken any concrete steps to address the numerous concerns raised’.
Hitting out at the report, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: “The update of the report of the OHCHR is merely a continuation of the earlier false and motivated narrative on the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.”
He also said the assertions in the report are in violation of India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and ignore the core issue of cross-border terrorism.
“A situation created by years of cross-border terrorist attacks emanating from Pakistan has been ‘analysed’ without any reference to its causality. The update seems to be a contrived effort to create an artificial parity between the world’s largest and the most vibrant democracy and a country that openly practices state-sponsored terrorism,” Kumar pointed out.
“We have registered our strong protest regarding the update with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,” added Kumar.
Earlier Monday the UN rights office said that India and Pakistan failed to improve the situation in Kashmir and have not taken any concrete steps to address the numerous concerns raised in an earlier report by the rights body.
“A UN human rights report on the situation in Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir from May 2018 to April 2019, says the number of civilian casualties reported over the 12-month period may be the highest in over a decade,” the new report by the OHCHR, said.
It further said that ‘neither India nor Pakistan have taken any concrete steps to address the numerous concerns raised’.
The report also stated ‘In PoK, accountability for violations committed by members of the Indian security forces remains virtually non-existent’.
PTI