Pakistani PM Khan slams world community over silence on Kashmir issue

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday slammed the international community over their silence on human rights violations in the Indian-administered Kashmir.

"Today on International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, I call on the international community to hold India accountable for its human rights abuses in IOJK [Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir] where women, men & children have faced pellet guns, sexual assault, electrocution, & physical & mental torture," Khan said on Twitter.

His statement came on the eve of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, observed worldwide on Friday.

The UN observes the day every June 26 since 1997 for the total eradication of torture.

Khan also accused the Indian government and said the human rights violations and atrocities are carried out by the Indian forces on orders of their government.

"These atrocities by Indian Occupation forces on orders of the Hindutva Supremacist Occupation Modi [Narendra Modi] govt are well documented by UN, HR orgs & intl media. A continuing silence in the face of such blatant abuse is against int human rights & humanitarian laws & must be unacceptable," Khan added.

On Monday, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation urged India to "immediately" halt security operations against the people of Jammu and Kashmir and respect basic human rights, refrain from changing the demographic structure of the disputed territory as well as settle the conflict under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Tension between the two South Asian nuclear powers mounted after India's scrapping of the decades-long special status of the disputed valley last year in August.

The latest surge in violence has left dead over 100 suspected Kashmiri militants in the disputed Himalayan valley this year. Some 80 militants were killed since the coronavirus pandemic emerged in the region on March 20.

The bodies are buried in remote northern Kashmir hamlets to prevent large gatherings that funerals attract. Only three to four family members of the fallen militants are allowed to participate in the last rites.

DISPUTED REGION

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965, and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire took effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989.