India must respect civil rights secured by law: German foreign ministry

Maria Adebahr said Germany was closely following developments in the region.

BERLIN (Dunya News) – Germany – following India’s unconstitutional act of abrogating Articles 35A and 370 on Monday – asserted that the Indian government must comply with its constitution which had guaranteed the country’s only Muslim-majority state autonomy after independence in 1947.

As tensions rose over blatant move to scrap the special status of the region, Germany has urged the Indian government to hold dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Maria Adebahr, a spokeswoman for the German foreign ministry, said at a news conference in Berlin: "We believe that all further steps of the government must comply with India’s constitution," she said, urging New Delhi to respect civil rights secured by the law.

"We are calling on the Indian government to hold dialogue with the population concerned about its plans, its intentions," Adebahr said.

Maria Adebahr said Germany was closely following developments in the region.

India on Monday scrapped the special status granted to the country’s only Muslim-majority state which secured it’s autonomy after independence of the subcontinent in 1947.

The provision allowed Jammu and Kashmir to enact its own laws and disallowed outsiders to settle and own land in the territory.

Pakistan s foreign ministry said in a statement that the country would "exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps".

Several Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against unjust Indian rule for unification with Pakistan.

According to several human rights organisations, thousands of people have been killed by Indian occupation forces during the conflict in the region.

Amnesty International, a global rights group, has also slammed Indian move and stated on Twitter that "the unilateral decision" made by India without consulting stakeholders "amidst a clampdown on civil liberties and communications blackout is likely to increase the risk of further human rights violations and inflame tensions".

The unilateral decision by Government of India to revoke Jammu & Kashmir s special status without consulting J&K stakeholders, amidst a clampdown on civil liberties & communications blackout is likely to increase the risk of further human rights violations & inflame tensions.

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) August 5, 2019

Larger rallies are expected on Tuesday as Pakistan will hold a joint parliamentary session and Pakistan Army’s top military commanders meet to discuss the move.