Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir in its meeting here on Wednesday took stock of gross and widespread human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 48th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM).

OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha chaired the meeting with the participation of Foreign Ministers and high-level dignitaries of Azerbaijan, Niger, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Pakistan delegation was led by Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Chairperson OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) Dr. Haci Ali Acikgul, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, True representatives of the Kashmiri people, and senior OIC officials also attended the meeting.

Foreign Minister Qureshi underscored OIC’s principled position and resolute support to the just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination.

He highlighted that durable peace and stability in South Asia would remain unrealized without a just and lasting solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people.

The Foreign Minister stressed that since its illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, India had accelerated the denial of rights and freedoms to Kashmiris, detained the legitimate Kashmiri leadership, and killed, maimed, and summarily executed and tortured Kashmiris on a massive scale. In violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions, India was seeking to change the demography of the occupied territory.

OIC Secretary-General and Chairperson of the IPHRC presented their reports on the situation in IIOJK and made recommendations for action. Participating Foreign Ministers spoke about the importance of Jammu and Kashmir on the agenda of OIC and expressed support for the Kashmiri people.

In their statements, the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and True Representatives of the Kashmiri people briefed the Contact Group about the gross violations of human rights in IIOJK and called for OIC’s continued support for the Kashmir cause.

The meeting of the Contact Group concluded with the adoption of a comprehensive Joint communiqué including an action plan, that reaffirmed unequivocally OIC’s position and resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, firmly repudiated India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 and subsequent steps to alter the demographic structure of the IIOJK, and reiterated complete solidarity with the Kashmiri people in support of their legitimate struggle. It declared that the final settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and a UN-supervised plebiscite was indispensable for durable peace and stability in South Asia.