UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged the advocates of the concept of ‘responsibility to protect’, or R2P, to apply it to safeguard the oppressed people of occupied Palestine and Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Ambassador Aamir Khan, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the UN General Assembly on Monday,”Apart from its abuse, the concept of R2P has also led to the criticism that some powerful states have failed to invoke R2P by showing hesitancy either in condemning the massive human rights violations committed by so-called ‘strategic allies’ or by holding them accountable in the Security Council” .
Speaking in a debate on the responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, the Pakistani envoy said for more than 7 decades, India has, denied the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people, in violation of multiple resolutions of the Security Council prescribing a free and fair plebiscite India, he said, had deployed 900,000 troops, resorted to extra-judicial killings; forced abductions; collective punishments; and the incarceration of the entire political leadership of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).
To this end, he said, Pakistan has circulated a dossier with the evidence of 3,432 war crimes committed by India’s officials in Jammu and Kashmir, while adding that Muslims’ persecution has become a “routine norm” for India.
On Saturday, during a visit of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah to Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Aamir Khan said that Indian Army personnel stormed into a mosque in Pulwama district of south Kashmir while Muslims were offering prayers and forced Muslims to chant “Jai Shri Ram” against their will.
Noticing this dangerous trend, Professor Gregory Stanton, the founder of Genocide Watch, has warned that a genocide of Muslims could very well happen in India, it was pointed out.
“The International community, especially the advocates of R2P concept must carefully analyze the devastating human rights situation that is transpiring in India as well as the occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” the Pakistani envoy said.
Aamir Khan said under the terms of R2P concept, the international community was expected to protect those in danger, but its selective application — driven by double standards and geopolitical considerations, undermines its credibility as a genuine humanitarian doctrine.
It is worth mentioning here that rests upon three pillars: the responsibility of each State to protect its populations; the responsibility of the international community to assist States in protecting their populations; and the responsibility of the international community to protect when a State is manifestly failing to protect its populations.
