Highlights:
- Using its Right of Reply at the 46th session of the UNHRC, India said it was not surprised that the representative of Islamabad once again misused the UN forum
- At UNHRC, India slammed Pakistan for misusing international platforms for “baseless and malicious propaganda” against it
- India also criticized Turkey’s internal affairs remarks, describing them as “completely unacceptable”
India slammed Pakistan for misusing international platforms for “baseless and malicious propaganda” against it on Wednesday at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and said before pointing a finger at New Delhi, Islamabad would do well to position its own house in order.
In response to a comment by Pakistan’s representative, using its Right of Reply under the High-Level Section of the 46th Session of the Human Rights Council, India said it was not shocked that Islamabad’s representative misused the UN forum yet again.
Ms. Seema Pujani, Second Secretary of the Indian Permanent Mission in Geneva, said, “The continued misuse of different platforms by Pakistan to engage in baseless and malicious propaganda against India is not new,” said
She said that the entire Union Territories (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh is the “integral and inalienable part of India”.
Ms Pujani, the Second Secretary of India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, said, “The measures taken by the Government to ensure good governance and growth in these Union Territories are our internal matters.
Pakistan would do well to put its own house in order as a nation with one of the worst human rights records in the world before venturing to point a finger at India, the diplomat from India Ms. Pujani said.
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She stressed that there have been regular attacks on the places of worship of minority groups, highlighting the abuse and institutionalised discrimination and oppression faced by Pakistan’s minorities, including Christians, Sikhs and Hindus.
Ms. Seema Pujani, Second Secretary of the Indian Permanent Mission in Geneva, added further, “The situation of women belonging to minority communities, particularly Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, remains deplorable. According to a recent study published by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an estimated 1,000 women from minority groups are subjected to abduction every year following forced conversion and forced marriage in Pakistan.”
The issue of political repression in Balochistan and other regions and enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture in Pakistan has also been raised by India.
The diplomat from India said, “Many Balochistani human rights defenders have also suffered tragic deaths while in exile under mysterious circumstances. Pashtuns and Sindhis have continued to fight systemic oppression and discrimination.”
Noting that Pakistan has been the home and patron of the world’s largest number of internationally banned terrorist groups and individuals, Ms. Pujani, the Second Secretary of India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, said that Pakistan’s state-sponsored terrorism is not only a threat to India, but to other nations in the region and beyond.
The Indian diplomat, Ms Pujani also highlighted the recent acquittal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan of al-Qaeda terrorist and murderer of American journalist Daniel Pearl, Omar Saeed Sheikh, and said it is “a clear indication of the nexus of the Pakistan establishment with such entities”.
Ms. Seema Pujani, said “We urge the United Nations Council to call on Pakistan to take credible and irreversible measures to put an end to state-sponsored terrorism and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in its controlled territories.”
India also blasted Turkey on its internal affairs remarks, describing them as “completely unacceptable.” India also rejected the statement of the Organization of Islamic Conference, saying it was “factually incorrect.”
