OIC condemns “terrorist act” by Indian forces in Kashmir

An Indian police officer fires tear smoke shell on Kashmiri protesters attempting to march to an Indian military base in Srinagar, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018. (AFP)

• Calls upon international community to fulfil its obligations
• Pakistan PM Khan says only dialogue can resolve the conflict

ISLAMABAD: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned the recent killings in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir after a handful of civilians were killed and several others injured on Saturday, a statement released by the group read on Monday.
Terming the killings as an act of terrorism, the OIC’s General Secretariat “called upon the international community to play its role in order to reach a just and lasting solution to the conflict in Kashmir.”
It also urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to fulfill the aspirations of the Kashmiri people in accordance with relevant international resolutions.
A day earlier, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement wherein it reiterated Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s demand that “India has to allow investigations by an independent fact-finding commission of the OCHCR, OIC, and IPHRC into the ongoing gross human rights violations in IoK and to fulfill its obligations under the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.”
On Sunday, Qureshi urged the “champions of human rights” to prevail upon the administration in New Delhi to “put an immediate halt to the Kashmiri genocide.”
According to media reports, seven people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday when Indian forces opened fire at protesters in the valley.
The incident also prompted Kashmiri leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to call for another demonstration on Monday. He said that the protest would give Indian troops yet another opportunity to “kill all of us at one time rather than killing us daily.”
The Foreign Office statement further stated that “despite hollow Indian claims, Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally-recognized dispute, pending on the agenda of the UN Security Council.”
“The mindless killing spree carried out by the Indian occupation forces on Saturday is yet another example of the Indian atrocities against the innocent Kashmiris. India continues to kill and maim, under the garb of ‘combating terror’. In Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, every man, woman or a child who protests against India’s illegal occupation and brutalities against innocent and hapless Kashmiris, is a ‘terrorist’,” the statement added.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan reacted sharply to the Pulwama attack by strongly condemning the killings by Indian security forces. “Strongly condemn the killings of innocent Kashmiri civilians in Pulwama IoK by Indian security forces,” he tweeted on Sunday.
Reiterating that only dialogue can resolve the Kashmir-conflict, he added: “We will raise the issue of India’s human rights violations in IoK and demand the UNSC fulfill its Jammu & Kashmir plebiscite commitment.” “Kashmiri’s must be allowed to decide their future,” said PM Khan.