India hits out at UNHCR over J&K ‘ambiguities’

In yet another sharp rebuff to the UNHCHR’s reference to Jammu and Kashmir, India on Wednesday said it was concerned at “persisting ambiguities” in the UN body’s governance and asserted that the violence in the state was “choreographed” from across the border. Hitting out at Pakistan, India also emphasised that it has shared evidence of terrorists who came across the border with instructions to target the security forces by mingling with protesting crowds and using them as human shields.

“Terrorism, I would emphasise, is the most egregious violation of human rights,” India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative at the UN in Geneva, Ajit Kumar, said during the General Debate on the oral update by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) during the 33rd Session of Human Rights Council here.

India also stated that the whole state of Jammu and Kashmir is its integral part while Pakistan remains in illegal occupation of a part of its territory and the “two cannot and should not be equated”.

“The neutrality of the phrase ‘Indian-administered Kashmir’ is, therefore, artificial. Furthermore, the state of Jammu and Kashmir has an elected democratic government that represents all sections of the people unlike the situation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” the Indian envoy said.

India in its statement said, “We have noted the reference in the High Commissioner’s statement to the situation in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir”. “The current violence in Jammu and Kashmir has been choreographed from across our border since the death of a known terrorist belonging to an internationally proscribed terrorist organisation in police action in July this year.

“We have shared evidence of terrorists who came across the border with instructions to target our security forces by mingling with protesting crowds and using human shields,” he said.

In sharply critical comments, India said it has been appreciative of the High Commissioner’s efforts at improving efficiency and streamlining OHCHR’s work.