India committing terror in Kashmir for 30 years: Pakistan submits rejoinder in UN

"India is committing state terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir for the last 30 years."

UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK (Dunya News) – Pakistan on Saturday night submitted a rejoinder to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in response to India’s criticism of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech that exposed India’s atrocities and gross violations of human rights in Kashmir.

Zulqarnain Chheena, a diplomat of the Pakistani mission, while exercising his right to reply stated that PM Khan had exposed the real cruel face of Indian state terrorism before the world community.

“It is obvious that India neither wants to face up to the truth about its abominable policies and actions, nor does it want others to see it,” Mr Zulqarnain told the 193-member Assembly while responding to an Indian representative, who described PM Khan’s well-reasoned address as “hate speech.”

He outlined that the Pakistani premier had only put a spotlight on New Delhi’s “indefensible actions against the Kashmiris and its minorities across the country.”

“India is committing state terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir for the last 30 years […] the Indian government is carrying forward the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) agenda […] the killers of Mahatma Gandhi are now ruining the secular face of India in occupied Kashmir,” he mentioned.

Mr Zulqarnain further pointed out that Pakistan had arrested Indian spy Kulbushan Yadev who admitted involvement in various incidents of terrorism inside Pakistan.

"True to the ideological progenitors, the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)," Zulqarnain, a second secretary on the Pakistan Mission to the UN said, "the (Indian) statement betrayed a sense of conceited self-righteousness, symptomatic of the malady that has become the feature of the communal driven face of India.

"For an ideology seeped in ‘hatred’, the very mention of ‘hate speech’ was outrageous," he said in his strongly-worded right of reply.

He called it a "crass attempt at self-glorification by those whose singular accomplishment has been to denude India of any ‘pretense’ to its so-called secular credentials." Citing the policy statement of M.S. Golwalkar, one of the founding fathers of the RSS, to turn India into a Hindu country."

"Today, this ideal of Hindu supremacy is being put into place with a single-minded zealousness - with every act of the repugnant assault of cow vigilantes, with every gruesome mob lynching, with every forced conversion, the supremacist RSS ideology is on display ever more brazenly. Far from being a so-called ‘vibrant democracy‘, this is becoming a living hell for those perceived and treated as the ‘other’ in saffron India. Tellingly, those who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 are busy killing the idea of secular India espoused by him."

Zulqarnain responded that India made obfuscation, deception and diverting attention from ugly ground realities which was the most familiar page out of the Indian playbook, referring to India‘s statement delivered by Vidisha Maitra, a first secretary in the Indian mission.

"A country that has for decades been engaged in state terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir has the gall to accuse others of terrorism," the Pakistani delegate further added.

"A country whose serving naval officer, Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, was caught red-handed for espionage, sabotage and terrorism has the gumption to cast the victim as the perpetrator".

"A country which is in the iron grip of the fascist RSS, which was thrice banned in India for terror-related charges, has the audacity to point fingers at others".

"If at all, India should seek answers from the perpetrators of the Samjotha terrorist attack, who were acquitted earlier this year".

"India should seek answers from the killers of Pehlu Khan, who was killed, in cold blood, for transporting cattle by a violent cow vigilante mob in 2017.”

"India should seek answers from the masterminds of the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, whose political fortunes have bloomed while innocent victims suffer in pain and misery."

"The common thread behind these and countless other incidents is that [the] victim has had the misfortunate of finding himself against the might of the all encompassing Hindutva onslaught." Zulqarnain said.

“The Indian representative had deliberately avoided making any mention of the complete and cruel lockdown including a communication blackout in the occupied Kashmir.”

"Neither did she mention the plight of the innocent Kashmiris, who for the last 53 days, have been forced to live without food and essential supplies; 53 days without information of the well-being of family and friends; 53 days of total darkness, an abiding fear of the unknown, with no end in sight," he said.

"We were instead, treated to the fable that the illegal Indian annexation of the occupied territory was meant to remove hindrances to the ‘development’ of the occupied territory, no doubt, a novel model of development where the relevant stakeholders are not ‘mainstreamed’ but are instead locked up, their voice muffled and their liberties taken away".

"If indeed, the actions undertaken are so well-meaning to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, I ask the Indian representative why does the Indian state not allow the Kashmiri people to come out and express their feelings? Why is India so afraid? While Pakistan has nothing to hide," he said.

"Does India have the moral courage to respond to the findings of the UN OHCHR (Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights) reports on occupied Jammu and Kashmir, that have documented a litany of barbaric Indian repression in occupied Jammu and Kashmir?" "If not, the dishonest Indian defence is nothing but a self-perpetuating farce," Mr Zulqarnain asked.

"The central reality is the dire human rights and humanitarian crisis in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the denial of the fundamental right of self-determination pledged to the Kashmiris by India, Pakistan and the international community as enshrined in 11 UN Security Council resolutions," he concluded.