Pakistan has reiterated its stance that India's illegal annexation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir will never be accepted by the Kashmiris. This assertion was made by Second Secretary in the Pakistan Mission, Rabia Ijaz, during the General Assembly debate on "Responsibility to Protect (R2P)." Rabia Ijaz emphasized that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains an internationally recognized issue under relevant Security Council resolutions and cannot be dismissed by India's legal maneuvers. She called for the international community to alleviate the suffering of the Kashmiri people by granting them their right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter and numerous UNSC resolutions. In response to the Indian delegation's inflammatory remarks, Rabia Ijaz highlighted India's poor treatment of minorities, including public lynching of Christians, Muslims, and Dalits by Hindutva zealots. Addressing the Indian delegation's refusal to acknowledge the facts presented by Pakistan regarding India's poor treatment of minorities, Rabia Ijaz said India has opted to present fabricated assertions to the Assembly in line with its previous practice. She highlighted the irony of India lecturing on human rights while its minorities, including Christians, Muslims, and Dalits, face public lynching at the hands of Hindutva zealots daily.

Rabia Ijaz criticized India for its anti-Muslim rhetoric, questioning the justification for a BJP leader's recent threat to slaughter 200,000 Muslims. She pointed out that India's leadership has used anti-Muslim rhetoric for political gain, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi referring to Muslims as "infiltrators" during campaign speeches. Additionally, she noted the open calls for genocide of Muslim minorities by Hindu priests. The Pakistani delegate lamented the lack of action against hate crimes in India. She urged the Indian delegation to address concerns raised by UN experts and to reverse the dangerous Islamophobic trend in their country instead of making vitriolic remarks against Pakistan. Rabia Ijaz pointed out the irony of India lecturing on terrorism while using terrorism as a state policy against its neighbors. She said that India, being a state sponsor of terrorism, runs global assassination campaigns, and abusing UNSC sanctions regimes to prevent the listing of its nationals involved in terrorist activities.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan