Geneva/New Delhi : India on Wednesday slammed Pakistan for misuse of the UN Human Rights Council platform to propagate its “false and malicious propaganda” against the country, and said that it “does not need lessons from a failed State like Pakistan which is the epicentre of terrorism and the worst abuser of Human Rights”.
India also regretted and rejected the reference made by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to Jammu and Kashmir, and said it has no locus standi to comment on the internal affairs of India.
Exercising its right of reply to the statements made by Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation at the UNHRC, India’s First Secretary at the Indian Mission to UN in Geneva, Pawan Badhe, said that Islamabad has failed to protect the rights of its own minorities.
“It has become a habit for Pakistan to misuse the platforms provided by the Council to propagate its false and malicious propaganda against my country.”
He said the Council is aware of Pakistan’s attempts to divert the forum’s attention from serious human rights violations being perpetrated by the Islamabad government, “including in the territories occupied by it”, in reference to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
He said Pakistan has failed to protect the rights of its minorities, including Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and Ahmadiyas.
“Thousands of women and girls from minority communities have been subjected to abductions, forced marriages and conversions in Pakistan and its occupied territories,” he said, and added that Pakistan has been engaged in the systematic persecution, forced conversions, targeted killings, sectarian violence and faith-based discrimination against its ethnic and religious minorities.
“Incidents of violence against minority communities, including attacks on their places of worship, their cultural heritage, as well as their private property have taken place with impunity. A ‘climate of fear’ continues to drastically impact the daily lives of minorities,” Badhe said.
Dissenting voices from civil societies, human rights defenders, journalists are muzzled daily in Pakistan, with the support of the Pakistan government, he said.
- Latest
