UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Maleeha Lodhi on Wednesday protested in the UN over the recent atrocities by Indian troops, which included the targeting of a passenger bus and an ambulance in Azad Kashmir.
According to a press release issued by the Pakistan Mission to the UN, Maleeha said the attack on an ambulance trying to evacuate the injured was a particularly abhorrent act that was a breach of fundamental legal and humanitarian laws.
Briefing UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson and UN Cabinet Chief of the Secretary General Edmond Mulet, the envoy said the current situation posed a grave threat to international peace and security.
She said that this attack led to the martyrdom of 10 innocent people and caused severe injuries to nine others.
She told UN officials that escalating tensions on the Line of Control (LoC) was a deliberate attempt by India to divert the attention of the international community from the gross human right violations being committed by Indian forces in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK).
She added that the targeting of civilians was a particularly deplorable aspect of the latest escalation on LoC.
The Pakistani envoy reminded UN officials of their obligations in this regard and urged them to fulfill these commitments.
UN officials shared Pakistan’s concern that the escalating situation could spin out of control, the envoy said.
She also asked the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations to mobilise the United Nations Military Observer Group to effectively monitor LoC and the Working Boundary in order to help de-escalate tensions between the archrivals.
The ambassador briefed UN officials about the latest phase of the Kashmiri uprising that started with the assassination of freedom fighter Burhan Wani. It was pointed out that this indigenous uprising had been met by brutal repression by Indian forces.
She urged the UN to not only take action to halt human rights’ abuses in IHK, but also to act before the escalating tensions snowballed into a full-fledged crisis.
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