India slams OIC, Turkey and Pakistan over Kashmir in Geneva

GENEVA: India on Tuesday slammed Turkey and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, while shaming Pakistan for funding cross-border terrorism and ethnic cleansing of its minorities.

In response to the statements made by Pakistan, Turkey and the OIC at the Council, Indian representative PawanBadhe, First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva, rejected their comments on India's internal matters, specifically Jammu and Kashmir, which was reorganised last year and bifurcated into two Union Territories.

In an unprecedented takedown of the OIC, Turkey and Pakistan, Badhe said, "The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. The OIC has no locus standi to comment on internal affairs of India. The OIC has allowed itself to be misused by Pakistan to subvert its own agenda. It's for the members of the OIC to decide if it is in their interest to allow Pakistan to do so."

He also advised Turkey to refrain from commenting on the internal affairs of India.

Using strong words against Islamabad, Badhe said it has become a habit for Pakistan to malign India with false and fabricated narratives for its self-serving malicious purposes.

"Neither India nor others deserve this unsolicited lecture on human rights from a country that has consistently persecuted its ethnic and religious minorities, is an epicentre of terrorism, has the distinction of providing pensions to individuals on UN Sanctions list and has a Prime Minister who proudly admits training tens of thousands of terrorists to fight in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

The Indian diplomat said that it is not surprising that other relevant multilateral institutions have been raising serious concerns on Pakistan's failure to stop terror financing and lack of effective actions against all terror entities in Pakistan.

The nefarious designs of Pakistan continue in Pakistan occupied parts of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, he said.

"The mass influx of outsiders has whittled down the number of Kashmiris to an insignificant number in Pakistan occupied parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh," he informed the council.

Badhe argued that in its zeal to reassert its theocratic ideology, Pakistan has ensured that ethnic and religious minorities have no future because of systematic persecution, blasphemy laws, forced conversions, targeted killings, sectarian violence and faith-based discrimination.

Thousands of Sikh, Hindu and Christian minority women and girls have been subjected to abductions, forced marriages and conversions in Pakistan, he pointed out. (IANS)

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