Nawaz urges UN for efforts to end Indian atrocities in IoK

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has urged the United Nations (UN) to make efforts for putting an end to Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

The prime minister has written letters to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein and urged them to make efforts to end the persistent and egregious violations of the basic human rights in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), said the ministry in a statement.

The premier, in the letter, urged implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, which provide for self-determination of the Kashmiri people through a fair and impartial plebiscite under the aspiration of the UN.

Highlighting human rights abuses by Indian forces, Nawaz Sharif stated that more than 50 deaths and 3500 injuries had taken place, out of which 400 were critical, noting, "Many innocent Kashmiris had lost their eyesight due to pellet guns, which were aimed with the deliberate intention of causing serious permanent injuries".

The statement further read that the use of illegitimate and excessive force against innocent civilians protesting peacefully against the extrajudicial killings was a blatant violation of a range of fundamental rights.

PM Nawaz said that force was being used to prevent access to hospitals and medical facilities, and to harass doctors. "The situation is a clear manifestation of Indian state terrorism to suppress the Kashmiris' struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination," he observed.

He called for investigation into the brutalities and atrocities committed by Indian forces, protection of Kashmiris' fundamental rights, a fair inquiry into the execution of freedom fighter Burhan Muzaffar Wani in cold blood and implementation of UN Resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir.