Islamabad, May 17, 2023 (PPI-OT): The Convener of All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter Mehmood Ahmed Saghar has expressed his profound gratitude to the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, for voicing his concern over India’s decision to hold the G20 meeting in Srinagar and its implications on the human rights situation in the region.
Mehmood Ahmed Saghar in a statement issued in Islamabad said the UN expert has rightly pointed out that holding a G20 meeting in Srinagar while massive human rights violations are ongoing was tantamount to lending support to attempts by India to normalize the brutal and repressive denial of democratic and other rights of Kashmiri Muslims and minorities.
The APHC leader said the statement should serve as an eye-opener for the world, particularly the G-20 nations who have been invited by New Delhi to attend the event in a territory, which it had occupied illegally against the will of the Kashmiri people. Mehmood Ahmed Saghar said the G20 countries should pay heed to the clarion calls emanating from within and outside Kashmir, uphold the international human rights obligations, take a unified stand on the Kashmir dispute and denounce the human rights violations being committed by the Indian troops in IIOJK.
Meanwhile, APHC-AJK leader, Altaf Ahmed Butt, in his statement in Islamabad appreciated the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, for highlighting the critical situation faced by the people of IIOJK. He said the UN expert rightly stated that the holding of G20 meeting in Srinagar unwittingly provides a semblance of normalcy while massive human rights violations, arbitrary arrests, political persecutions, and restrictions on media and human rights defenders persist in the occupied territory.
He said the G20, UN, P5, and European Union should come forward and help resolve the long pending Kashmir dispute. He also urged them to make India adhere to international laws and norms, which prohibit organizing international events in disputed territories.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org