Daily Times

NEW YORK: Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador, briefed several representatives of the Kashmiri diaspora in New York on Friday. She detailed the evolving situation in the Indian Occupied Kashmir and lambasted against the grave human rights violations being committed there.

In her address at the meeting held at the Pakistan Mission to the UN in New York, Ambassador Lodhi also asserted that the government of Pakistan stood firm in its principled policy of providing moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmir cause, according to a press release by the mission. Pakistan is also actively pursuing the issue at various forums at the United Nations.

She also stressed the importance of establishing an independent inquiry to investigate the extra judicial killing of Kashmiri youth leader, Burhan Wani, and other innocent protesters. The plight of unarmed Kashmiri civilians– being killed, blinded and maimed–was forcefully being brought to the attention of the international community. Ambassador Lodhi also highlighted this development in her statement at the General Assembly in a debate on human rights as well as during her meetings with the UN leadership as well as with the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Koro Bessho of Japan. In this regard, the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, had also previously written letters to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, the Security Council president, the OIC Secretary-General, Dyad Amen Madani and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, to raise Pakistan’s serious concerns on the alarming situation in Indian occupied Kashmir.

He also made note of the brutal massacre of innocent civilians as well as the grave violations of the fundamental human rights of the Kashmiris by Indian forces. Denial by India to grant the people of occupied Kashmir their due right of self determination through an independent plebiscite, as had been promised to them by various Security Council resolutions, continues to flare up the current situation, which has threatened both regional peace and security, Ambassador Lodhi added. She also called for the UN to fulfil its 68 year-old pledge to the Kashmiri people. Members of the Kashmiri diaspora present at the meeting included Capt (r) Shaheen Butt, president of the Kashmir Mission and Sardar Saar Khan, a former member of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council.

The leaders appreciated Pakistan’s consistent support and its continual efforts to take up the issue at different international forums. They also pledged to continue highlighting the issue through concerted efforts directed at the media, human rights organizations and local political leaders. Pakistan’s Consul General in New York, Raja Ali Ejaz, was also present at the meeting.