India Questions UN Rights Body's Silence on PoK Unrest, Alleges 'Extreme Selectivity'
India has asked the United Nations human rights office when it will issue a report on the steps taken by Pakistan to address concerns in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and questioned what New Delhi described as the office's "extreme selectivity" in raising rights issues.
The remarks were made by Anuj Swarup, First Secretary at India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, during an interactive dialogue with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly's Third Committee on Wednesday.
"When can we expect OHCHR to issue a report on the steps taken by the Government of Pakistan on this? Pakistan would do well to look inwards and reflect on how such rights are not being enjoyed in its large part, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and for that matter, in Rawalakot, which is under its illegal occupation," Mr Swarup said, referring to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The region, which India calls Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), is administered by Pakistan and is referred to by Islamabad as Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Both countries claim the territory in full but administer different parts of it.
Mr Swarup referred to earlier statements by the OHCHR and the High Commissioner on the situation there. Those statements called for prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into killings allegedly carried out by armed and security forces. They also urged the authorities to ensure that detained leaders of the Joint Awami Action Committee had access to legal representation and to their families, and were afforded due process and a fair trial.
The statements further called for the lifting of internet restrictions and for a meaningful political dialogue to address the grievances of the local population. The High Commissioner had noted that dozens of people, mostly protesters but also law enforcement personnel, were reported to have been killed since June, ahead of elections to the Legislative Assembly on July 27.
Mr Swarup said the OHCHR had adopted an approach of "extreme selectivity" in addressing such incidents. "Violent responses to protests in our neighbourhood as well as in the west have gone uncommented. Needless to say, such double standards contribute to loss of trust in multilateralism and the work of OHCHR," he said.
Turning to India's own record, he said the country's freedom movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi, championed non-violence and equality, values that also shaped the Constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights to every citizen. "Indian citizens exercise rights subject to maintenance of public order and safety. Our law enforcement authorities act strictly in accordance with the law, and our courts remain available for redressal of any grievance," he said.
Mr Swarup said India, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, had contributed constructively to discussions on contemporary issues and would continue to engage with the High Commissioner and the OHCHR in a "spirit of trust and partnership without selectivity and double standards".
He also stressed that the Constitution guarantees the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh the same fundamental rights as citizens elsewhere in the country, and that both regions are integral and inalienable parts of India.
The exchange comes days after New Delhi described comments by the OHCHR on protests in the national capital as "unwarranted" and "unacceptable interference" in India's internal affairs. Last week, the UN Human Rights Office expressed concern over "reports of mass detentions of demonstrators, protest leaders, members of civil society organisations, lawyers and journalists, before and during today's large-scale demonstrations in Delhi."
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said India is the world's largest democracy, where the right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the Constitution.
