The UN Report on Kashmir has in the rarest of scenario united BJP and Congress. It is unlikely for any current government in any part of the world to get the support of the opposition party.
On Thursday, UN released a report on the state of human rights in Kashmir titled “Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir: Developments in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir from June 2016 to April 2018, and General Human Rights Concerns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.”
Problem Starts With The Title:
The title itself can be considered biased as India does not recognise any state called as Azad Kashmir. That is an incorrect description of Indian Territory.
It could only mean the area occupied by Pakistan and under their control which is even worse in maintaining the basic human rights than any other part of Jammu and Kashmir.
The UN Report on Kashmir is highly critical of India and has around 33 pages of Human Rights violation by India and only 7 pages by Pakistan.
A Biased Report:
The Armed Force Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which allows the army to operate under the boundaries of the state was reprimanded.
India’s countermeasures for terrorist activities was termed to be in violation of basic human rights. However, the report has no mention of terrorist organisations operating from Pakistan. It does not even mention the genocides committed in Gilgit, Baltistan, and Balochistan.
Related: QuoraED: What Would Have Happened In India If It Hadn’t Been Partitioned In 1947?
Even though they have mentioned in the report that they could not completely assess the situation in Pakistan because of restrictions imposed by the Pakistani government, still the report is heavily critical against India.
The report even titles terrorist organisations as ‘Armed Groups’ and their terrorists as ‘Leaders’.
A day after the report was released senior journalist Shujaat Bhaskar was shot and an Indian soldier was abducted and killed and a video of him getting tortured was released by the captor.
India Rejects The Report:
Many leaders have rejected the UN Report on Kashmir saying that this is an internal matter of the country and the world body should not interfere.
The government has officially rejected the UN report. Raveesh Kumar, official spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs rejected the report calling it “fallacious, tendentious and motivated” and compilation of ‘unverified information’.
Response by @MEAIndia :
"India rejects the report. It is fallacious, tendentious and motivated. We question the intent in bringing out such a report.
It is a selective compilation of largely unverified information. It is overtly prejudiced and seeks to build a false narrative.” pic.twitter.com/r37KpW1FAU— India at UN, Geneva (@IndiaUNGeneva) June 14, 2018
Congress Backs BJP:
Even though the report is covered from June 2016 under the BJP reign, Congress did not berate the decision by the government and came out in full support.
The Congress communications-in-charge Randeep Surjewala said:
“Jammu and Kashmir is an integral and inseparable part of India. We reject U.N. Human Rights Report as a prejudiced attempt by vested interests to hurt India’s sovereignty and national interests”
He further added that the Congress supports the government’s stand in dismissing the report.
Another senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said “We reject any such ploy to interfere in the internal affairs of India as Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. The Government deserves our full support.”
It does not matter if Congress has any self-interest in taking a stand with the government. What matters is they took a stand for the right thing and fledged their support.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Huffington Post, First Post, Indian Express + more
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