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| April 11, 2002 | Thursday | Muharram 27, 1423 |
Pakistan won’t be cowed down by Indian blackmail: minister
ISLAMABAD, April 10: Reiterating unequivocal adherence to the principled stand on Kashmir, Pakistan has said it would not submit to Indian blackmail and military coercion, and urged the international community to adopt steps that could avoid a disastrous conflict in South Asia.
Law Minister Khalid Ranjha, speaking at the 58th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, asked the world body to make efforts for a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, says a message received here on Tuesday.
In a statement, he delivered at a session in Geneva, under agenda item 9 entitled “Question of violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world,” the minister said: “Our neighbour India has sough to take advantage of the post-September war against terrorism and Pakistan’s pre-occupation on its western frontiers, to intensify its military and diplomatic campaign to suppress the legitimate struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their right to self-determination as promised and prescribed by the UN Security Council.”
RANJHA SAID: “To oblige Pakistan to compromise its principled position on Kashmir, India has virtually deployed its entire million man army on our border in position to launch an aggression on any time.
“Its nuclear capable missiles have been proclaimed to be in battle ready positions.”
Pakistan, he said, had been obliged to take up defensive positions but, he added: “We have acted with self-restraint.”
Drawing the attention of the UN body on human rights, the minister said Indian repression in Kashmir had intensified.
The framework for inflicting state terror against the Kashmiri people had been strengthened further by the adoption by the Indian parliament of the infamous Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), he pointed out.
He expressed Pakistan’s utter disappointed that the European Union — which listed a catalogue of countries — did not refer to the grave violations of human rights of the Muslims in India.
PALESTINE: Ranjha said the gravest violations of human rights took place in conditions of conflict and specifically under foreign military occupation.
“This is the case both in Israeli occupied Palestine and Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
He called on the international community to tell Israeli government to stop atrocities being perpetrated against the unarmed civilian Palestinian population.
“The recent attacks by Israeli army on Palestinian civilian population are the worst example of human rights violation,” the law minister said.
GUJARAT:He also called for an inquiry by the United Nations to investigate the murder of over a thousand Muslims in the Gujarat pogrom, and measures to secure protection of the fundamental rights of Muslims in India.
“We urge the High Commissioner on human rights to appoint a UN inquiry Commission to investigate and report on the Gujarat pogrom and to recommend measures to ensure the protection of the fundamental human rights of Muslims in India,” the minister urged.—APP
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