INDIA RAISES PAK ABUSES IN BALOCHISTAN AT UN RIGHTS MEET

LONDON : India has responded to Pakistan’s allegations of rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir at the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva by highlighting alleged atrocities in the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Under India’s “right to reply” after a statement by Pakistan law minister Zahid Hamid, Alok Jha, counsellor in the Indian mission, said Islamabad’s “trust in the methods of terror” was so deep it did not hesitate from using it against its own people.

Jha specifically mentioned Balochistan, Sindh and KhyberPakhtunwa provinces and the semi-autonomous tribal areas in northwest Pakistan in this regard.

“While advocating restraint to others, it has no hesitation in using air power against its own people...Pakistan will be well advised to focus its energies on setting its own house in order and acting against the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on its neighbours instead of ritually taking up alleged human rights violations elsewhere,” he said.

India also regretted that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation delegates had used the UNHRC session to comment on Kashmir. The OIC statement, Jha said, reflected a “complete inability” to understand India’s position on the issue. “OIC has no locus standi in matters concerning India’s internal affairs.