ISLAMABAD/ MUZAFFARABAD: As the bloodshed in India-held Kashmir sparked protests in the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and outside the UN office in Islamabad on Tuesday, Pakistan called on the world community and particularly the permanent five (P5) members of the UN Security Council to take note of the aggravating human rights situation and get the UN resolutions on Kashmir implemented.

“The foreign secretary urged the international community and particularly the permanent members of the Security Council to take notice of the gravity of the situation in IOK, call on India to respect human rights of the people of IOK and implement UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,” said Pakistan’s Foreign Office in a statement at a briefing held for envoys of China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The protesters said it was the silence of the international community that had been encouraging India to go ahead with its killing spree in the held territory. All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leaders along with other protesters staged a sit-in outside the UN office in Islamabad, while a rally was taken out in Muzaffarabad where the Indian flag and portraits of the Indian army chief were torched in protest against the excessive use of brute force against the Kashmiris in the held valley.

The Pakistan government has been gradually building its diplomatic support for the Kashmiris, who have been protesting against the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. At least 32 people have been killed and more than 350 wounded in the protests that erupted in the valley on July 9 following Wani’s killing.

Earlier, Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale had been summoned to the Foreign Office as Pakistan lodged protest over the deaths of civilians in the valley and other human rights abuses by Indian security forces. Separate statements by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Foreign Office were also issued to denounce the atrocities.

India reacted to the statements citing that the situation in Kashmir was its internal matter and Islamabad’s statements on the issue reflected what Indian external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup described as “Pakistan’s continued attachment to terrorism and its usage as an instrument of state policy”.

But Pakistan rejected the Indian contention and said that Jammu and Kashmir was a disputed matter that awaited the implementation of the UNSC resolutions.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry told the envoys of the P5 members of the Security Council that the killing of innocent Kashmiri people could not be condoned under the pretext of terrorism. “The just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination cannot be equated with terrorism,” he added.

He again asked India to conduct a fair and transparent inquiry against the individuals responsible for these killings.

Meanwhile, APHC leaders along with Hizbul Mujahideen supreme commander Syed Salahuddin holding the sit-in outside the UN office in Islamabad paid tribute to commander Wani and other Kashmiris seeking their right to self-determination.

Referring to Libyan resistance leader Omar Mukhtar, he said while he was ‘Lion of the Desert’, young Wani was the ‘Lion of the Paradise’. He also announced that commander Mahmood Ghaznavi would replace Wani.

Later, the participants offered funeral prayers in absentia for Burhan Wani.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2016