Janjivan Bureau / Washington : India hit back the allegation of Pakistan Prime Minister and said Pakistan has now become ‘terroristan’ in United Nations on Thursday. Earlier Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has urged the United Nations to appoint a special envoy to Kashmir, as he claimed that the struggle of the people in the region is being “brutally suppressed” by India.
“In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror. The quest for a land of pure (“Pak” is Urdu for pure) has actually produced the land of pure terror. Pakistan is now Terroristan,” India’s statement addressed to the United Nations general assembly president said.
India’s statement, expressed as a right of reply to aggressive remarks made hours earlier by Pakistani prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, represents an escalation of a usually shrill war of words between the two countries.
At one point, the Indian statement referred to Pakistan solely as ‘Terroristan’. “Terroristan is in fact a territory whose contribution to the globalisation of terror is unparalleled.”
In his first remarks to the UN general assembly, Pakistan’s new prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi launched a scathing attack on India, reiterating known positions of the government in Islamabad irrespective of the party and person in charge.
Abbasi also took aim at the United States seemingly, harnessing a sense of distress felt at home by growing alienation from a one-time ally. Without naming the US or President Trump, Abbasi spoke of “rising racism and religious hatred” and “physical walls” and “psychological barriers”.
But Abbasi saved the most acrimonious allegations for India. “Pakistan demands an international investigation into India’s crimes in Kashmir,” he said and demanded “an inquiry Commission” be sent to Kashmir “to verify the nature and extent of India’s human rights violations, secure the punishment of those responsible and provide justice and relief to the victims”.
India hit back, saying, “It is extraordinary that the state which protected Osama Bin Laden and sheltered Mullah Omar has the gumption to play the victim”.
The statement referred to Hafiz Saeed, the man regarded the plotter of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. “Its current state can be gauged from the fact that Hafiz Mohammed a leader of the UN designated terrorist organization Lashkar-i-Taiba, is now sought to be legitimized as a leader of a political party.”
India also rejected Abbasi’s comments regarding Kashmir. “In so far as India is concerned, Pakistan must understand that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is and will always remain an integral part of India. However much it scales up cross -border terrorism, it will never succeed in undermining India’s territorial integrity.”
In earlier Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in his maiden address to the UN General Assembly yesterday, Abbasi accused India of indulging in terror activities against his country and warned of a “matching response” if it “ventures across the LoC (Line of Control)” or acts upon its doctrine of limited war against Pakistan.
“The Kashmir dispute should be resolved justly, peacefully and expeditiously. As India is unwilling to resume the peace process with Pakistan, we call on the Security Council to fulfil its obligation to secure the implementation of its own resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
“To this end, the UN secretary general should appoint a special envoy on Kashmir. His mandate should flow from the longstanding but unimplemented resolutions of the Security Council,” Abbasi said.
He said despite over 600 ceasefire violations on the India-Pakistan border since January this year, Pakistan has acted with restraint.
“But if India does venture across the LoC, or acts upon its doctrine of limited war against Pakistan, it will evoke a strong and matching response,” he said in his speech in which he raised his anti-India rhetoric.
India is expected to soon take up the podium to respond to Abbasi’s remarks on Kashmir.
The Pakistani prime minister said the legitimate struggle for self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir continues to be “brutally suppressed by India’s occupation forces”.
Abbasi, who assumed office few months ago, mentioned Kashmir a total of 17 times and India 14 times among other things in his speech.
He also said that from day one of its creation, Pakistan has faced unremitting hostility from its eastern neighbor (India).
“India refuses to implement the unanimous resolutions of the UN Security Council, which mandate a UN supervised plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to freely decide their destiny,” he said.
“Instead, India has deployed nearly 700,000 troops in occupied Kashmir to suppress the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris to exercise their right to self-determination. This is the most intense foreign military occupation in recent history,” Abbasi said as he kicked up the Pakistan’s rhetoric against India.
“Shotgun pellets have blinded and maimed thousands of Kashmiris including children. These and other brutalities clearly constitute war crimes and violate the Geneva Conventions,” he charged.
Abbasi demanded an international investigation into the alleged atrocities in Kashmir and sending of an inquiry commission to Jammu and Kashmir in order to secure the punishment of those “responsible of human rights violation” and provide justice and relief to victims.
However, he stated that Pakistan remains open to resuming a comprehensive dialogue with India to address all outstanding issues, especially Kashmir and discuss measures to maintain peace and security in the region.
“This dialogue must be accompanied by an end to India’s campaign of subversion and state sponsored terrorism against Pakistan, including from across our western border,” Abbasi said.
