BRUSSELS (DNA) –
Chairman Kashmir Council Europe (KC-EU) Ali Raza Syed has asked European Union (EU) not to forget severe violations of human rights of the people of the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, particularly EU should remember the rights of people of Kashmir in its upcoming summit with India.
It is important to mention that ahead of EU-India summit on 8th of May in Portugal, in its recommendations, the European parliament reiterates its support for stability and de-escalation between India and Pakistan. In a statement, the EU Parliament calls on the EU to renew its efforts for rapprochement and restoration of good neighborly relations between India and Pakistan, based on principles of international law. As for the human rights’ situation in India, the EU parliament expresses concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in India, echoing comments by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and several UN Special Rapporteurs. This includes reports including UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights that human rights defenders and journalists in the country lack a safe working environment.
While reacting on the statement of European Parliament, Chairman Kashmir Council Europe Ali Raza Syed we generally appreciate the EU’s parliament statement at the threshold of the EU-India summit but unfortunately the statement did not specifically mention the worse situation of Human Rights in occupied Kashmir witnessing extra judicial murders, continual killings of youth, rape of Kashmiri women and arrest and torturing of political figures and pro freedom activists by the Indian forces for last seven decades.
Ali Raza Syed emphasized that in its upcoming summit with India, EU leadership should visibly ask India to respect human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and allow them to participate in free plebiscite in order to decide their political fate.
He said, this must be clear for EU that Kashmir is a dispute territory and resolutions of United Nation’s Security Council on the issue openly give right to them to decide their political future.
Ali Raza Syed said, we laud that European parliament in its statement mentioned the violent behavior and misconduct with the minorities and other oppressed people in India but we want that European leadership should also raise the large scale violations of human rights committed by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.
He said, for more than seven decades Indian authorities are violating the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and it is above one and half year now that India has increased abuses of the human rights in occupied Kashmir as it revoked special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.
Chair of KC-EU said, one side India talks with Europe but on other hand India violates the rights of people especially civil and political rights of the Kashmiris and oppressed minorities in India.
A number of Kashmiri political prisoners are suffering from hardships in the Indian jails and even it is hard for their poor relatives to meet them in the Indian jails situated in the areas far away from Kashmir. There are also severe threats for Kashmiri detainees in the Indian jails including infamous Tehar prison witnessing rapid spread of Covid-19 among the prisoners.
Chair’s KC-EU expresses hope that the EU would raise issue of human rights of Kashmiris in its forthcoming dialogue with India as saying it is duty of international community including EU to play their role for prevention of human rights violations in the occupied Kashmir.
