Pakistan urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to push for peace within Kashmir, stressing that the region could not achieve stability until the Kashmir dispute was resolved.
“There will be no peace in South Asia until the just and equitable resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council and wishes of the Kashmiri people,” Qureshi said in his remarks at an informal meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir held in New York on Thursday.
The minister condemned Indian forces for using pellet guns, imprisoning Kashmiri political leaders, abducting children and women, staging fake encounters and indulging in a killing spree of Kashmiri youth in the occupied territory.
“Since 05 August 2019, over 8 million Kashmiris continue to face lockdown, military siege, arbitrary detentions, and unprecedented restrictions,” he said at the beginning of his address.
He stressed that the Indian occupation forces were operating “under draconian laws” with “complete impunity”, adding that they were “committing unspeakable atrocities to silence the voice of the Kashmiris and break their will to resist the occupation.”
The foreign minister highlighted that the Indian army continued its cordon-and-search operations during the pandemic, as well as how they had put down protests violently, continued the use of pellet-guns and torture, imprisoned Kashmiri political leaders, abducted children and women, staged fake “encounters”, and indulged in a killing spree of Kashmiri youth in IIOJK.
Qureshi stated that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party had been following the Hinduvata ideology, which entailed plans to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory and obliterate the distinct identity of the Kashmiri people.
He spoke of the purported “Final Solution” of the RSS-BJP regime, wherein the Indian government had allegedly crafted and issued over 4.2 million fake domicile certificates under the so-called “Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020”.
“The most recent example of Indian barbarity was the treatment of mortal remains of the great Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who passed away on 01 September 2021 after prolonged illegal Indian detention and house arrest.
“Syed Geelani was incarcerated for 50 years but never wavered from his demand for Kashmir’s freedom,” he said on the occasion.
“Even as his family mourned his loss, and prepared for his funeral, a heavy contingent of India’s occupation forces entered their home, and over the protests of family members, forcibly snatched Syed Geelani’s body, denied him the last rites of a Muslim funeral and buried him in a non-descript place rather than the ‘Cemetery of Martyrs’ as desired by Syed Geelani before his death,” the FM added, further stating that these actions were because the Indian government was afraid of Geelani and what he stood for.
“This clearly shows that India would trample all civil and human values to perpetuate its brutal occupation of IIOJK,” the minister remarked.
Speaking on the dossier recently released by Pakistan, he stated that it contained the “entire range of gross, systematic, and widespread violations of human rights” perpetrated by Indian forces in the IIOJK.
The 131-page dossier covers accounts of 3432 cases of war crimes perpetrated by senior officers of the Indian occupying forces. The crimes catalogued in the dossier are corroborated by audio and video evidence that we have meticulously gathered over time.
After the revival of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding along the Line of Control February, Pakistan expected that India would take positive steps to enable the resumption of engagement for the resolution of the dispute. Instead, India intensified its repression, the minister said.
“Pakistan is prepared to engage with India for a resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” he added, but underscored that, for this, India must create a conducive environment through a reversal of its unilateral and illegal measures instituted since 05 August 2019, stop its human rights violations in IIOJK, and halt and reverse the demographic changes in the occupied State.
While appreciating the OIC’s continued and unequivocal support on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the minister said that this organization has been at the forefront of efforts to support the just and legitimate struggle of the people of IIOJK for their inalienable right to self-determination, as reflected by the decisions and resolutions of the Islamic Summits and Council of Foreign Minister sessions, and the statements issued by the General Secretariat and IPHRC.
“In view of the grave situation, it is imperative that the OIC enhances its efforts to facilitate a lasting solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The oppressed people of Kashmir, now more than ever, count on OIC and the Muslim Ummah,” Qureshi said.
“I also request Your Excellencies’ active support in raising the issue at relevant UN foras, including the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council,” he concluded.
Separately, the foreign minister, in an interview with The Associated Press said that Pakistan was in sync with the international community wanting to see a peaceful and stable Afghanistan with no space for terrorist elements to increase their foothold.
He said like the international community, Pakistan also wanted the Taliban to ensure “that Afghan soil is never used again against any country.”
“If they live up to those expectations, they would make it easier for themselves, they will get acceptability, which is required for recognition,” Qureshi said, who is currently in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly session.
He said, “At the same time, the international community has to realize: What’s the alternative? What are the options? This is the reality, and can they turn away from this reality?”
He urged the world community to be more realistic and innovative to engage with the Taliban as the way that they were being dealt with had not worked.
The foreign minister urged the United States, the International Monetary Fund and other countries that have frozen Afghan government funds to immediately release the money so it can be used “for promoting normalcy in Afghanistan.”
He pledged that Pakistan was ready to play a “constructive, positive” role in opening communications channels with the Taliban because it, too, benefits from peace and stability.
He said the Taliban were listening, “and they are not insensitive to what is being said by neighbours and the international community.”
Qureshi stressed that the Taliban must make decisions in the coming days and weeks that would enhance their acceptability.
“What the international community can do, in my view, is sit together and work out a roadmap,” Qureshi said. “And if they fulfil those expectations, this is what the international community can do to help them stabilize their economy. This is the humanitarian assistance that can be provided. This is how they can help rebuild Afghanistan, reconstruction and so on and so forth.”
He added: “With this roadmap ahead, I think an international engagement can be more productive.”
Qureshi said there were different forums where the international community could work out the best way to approach the situation.
In the meantime, he asserted, things seem to be stabilizing as according to the information received by Pakistan, the law-and-order situation had improved, fighting had stopped and many internally displaced Afghans were going home.
“That’s a positive sign,” Qureshi remarked.
He said Pakistan has not seen a new influx of Afghan refugees — a sensitive issue for Pakistanis.
He said a humanitarian crisis, a foundering economy and workers who return to jobs and school but are not getting salaries and do not have money could cause Afghans to flee across the porous border into Pakistan, which has suffered economically from such arrivals over decades of conflict.
Prescribing patience and realism, Qureshi said as every previous attempt to stabilize Afghanistan had failed, new efforts could not be expected to produce immediate success with the Taliban.
If the United States and its allies “could not convince them or eliminate them in two decades, how will you do it in the next two months or the next two years?” he wondered.
Asked whether he had a prediction of what Afghanistan might be like in six months, Qureshi turned the question back on the interviewer, replying: “Can you guarantee me US behaviour over the next six months?”
with additional input from APP
