ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday said the 15-member UN Security Council (UNSC) would meet soon to take up the situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK) after its annexation by India.

“We have demanded an emergency UNSC meeting to discuss the issue, as we fear a catastrophic bloodshed by India as soon as it lifts curfew,” the foreign minister said.

He said Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and even the flag bearers of democracy and human rights in India had expressed concerns over the situation in IOK.

“We expect the US and other democracies to speak up against the tyranny and injustices faced by unarmed citizens of Kashmir at the hands of occupation forces for the past 11 days,” he said.

Mr Qureshi said the Modi government was not only snatching the rights of Kashmiris but they were planning to take away even the identity of Kashmiris.

He referred to the statement by Prime Minister Imran Khan that the ideology of Indian premier Modi was similar to that of fascists and the Nazis but added that the world was silent over the situation in Kashmir ‘only because the Kashmiris were Muslims’.

“We appeal to Ummah to raise their voice against this injustice, as we have to be answerable in the life hereafter too,” the minister said.

He said by annexing Kashmir, the Modi government had negated the stance of Indian founding fathers including Gandhi and Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2019