MURAD BASRAWI WRITES – Pakistan has condemned Indian soldiers for the brutal killing of three innocent civilians, and the injury of several others, in the Ganowpora Village of Shopian—a district in India-Occupied Kashmir this past month.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office in Islamabad delivered an angry statement to the media claiming that the Indian government’s decision to oppose peaceful protesters with weapons demonstrates the regular use of state terrorism in India against Kashmiris. According to a Foreign Office spokesperson, the large number of incarcerations, incidents of torture, and indiscriminate killings of Kashmiris justifies their pursuit of rights to self-determination.
The state government ordered an investigation into the incident and local police have registered a charge of murder against the soldiers involved in the incident.
Mehbooba Mufti, the Chief Minister of the India-Occupied Kashmir, called Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to express her agony over the killings. According to the state government, she stated, “Every civilian killing…impairs the political process in the state, which has been put on track after hard work by all political parties.” In other words, the killing of civilians harms the peace process to which all parties have been committed.
According to Pakistan, the international community needs to be aware of the human rights violations taking place in India Occupied Kashmir at the hands of Indian forces. The international community should use its influence within India to put an end to the unchecked violence the Indian government has encouraged for decades. The Foreign Office in Pakistan stated that:
“The world community must also play its rightful role in facilitating a just and lasting solution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.”
The Foreign Office argues that the world community has a responsibility to help bring peace to the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir through the drafting and passage of tough UN resolutions.