LONDON, May 24: The European Parliament on Thursday passed with overwhelming majority the Baroness Emma Nicholson report on Kashmir criticising the human rights situation in the Pakistani side of Kashmir.

Prior to the debate on the report at the plenary session of the European Parliament, Baroness Nicholson responded to a letter which she had received from Saeed Khalid, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the European Union.

Earlier this week, Baroness Emma, who is also vice-chairperson of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, in an unusual departure from diplomatic niceties deplored the recent outbreaks of violence in Karachi and said that the overwhelming need of the hour is to “secure an independent justice system to address the situation of the people of Pakistan, and particularly those of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit and Baltistan”.

The report, which despite efforts from many quarters over many months has remained largely anti-Pakistan and pro-India, refutes Pakistan’s historic position on the Northern Areas as responding to Ambassador Khalid’s contention that the Northern Areas of Pakistan were never a part of Jammu and Kashmir, and that the Siachen Glacier formed a part of the Northern Areas, Baroness Nicholson said that she could not ‘commend’ the Pakistan government’s ‘new position’ to the European Parliament.

She claimed that she had rigorously revisited her earlier research on the geography and history of the region, including checking of maps, treaties, historic documents and speeches from 1846 till date, and had come to the conclusion that the Northern Areas belonged to the sovereignty of Kashmir.

On the issue of Siachen Glacier as well, Ms Nicholson showed her Indian leanings and said that she could not incorporate Pakistan’s viewpoint on the issue that the Siachen Glacier belonged the Northern Areas into the final report, as the “issue only found small mention in the report, and new section would have to be created to adopt the eleven paragraphs of information provided by Islamabad”.

She has recommended that the government of Pakistan endorsed and implemented the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan of May 28, 1999 which validated the Kashmiri heritage of the people of Gilgit and Baltistan and said the government should implement their fundamental human rights, democratic freedoms and access to justice.

She said Pakistan had failed to fulfil its obligations to introduce meaningful and representative democratic structures on its side of Kashmir.

Ms Nicholson is particularly critical of the fact that the Pakistan side of Kashmir is governed through the ministry of Kashmir affairs in Islamabad, that Pakistan officials dominate the Kashmir Council and that the chief secretary, Inspector-General of Police, accountant-general and finance secretary are all from Pakistan.

She has also expressed her disapproval of the provision in the 1974 Interim Constitution, which forbids any political activity that is not in accordance with the doctrine of Jammu and Kashmir, as part of Pakistan, and obliges any candidate for a parliamentary seat in AJK to sign a declaration of loyalty to that effect.

That the Gilgit-Baltistan region enjoys no form of democratic representation whatsoever has also caused her concern.