OIC body rejects Art 370 move

NEWDELHI:A key body of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Monday backed the Kashmiri people’s demand for self-determination and rejected the Indian government’s decision to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

A virtual meeting of the OIC’S contact group on Kashmir, held on Pakistan’s call, adopted a communique that also expressed concern over ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and called on India to “rescind its unilateral and illegal actions, and allow the Kashmiri people to freely exercise their right to selfdetermination through a Un-supervised

plebiscite”. A Pakistan Foreign Office statement said the communiqué was unanimously adopted by the contact group.

A separate statement issued by the OIC said the contact group reaffirmed continued support for the Kashmiri people and called on the UN secretary-general to make India abide by the UN Security Council resolutions and “engage in dialogue to calm the situation”.

The contact group called on India to halt security operations in Kashmir, respect basic human rights, “refrain from changing the demographic structure” of the region and settle the issue under UN Security Council resolutions, according to the OIC statement. It added that the contact group welcomed efforts by some OIC members to calm situation between India and Pakistan.

There was no immediate response from Indian officials. India has traditionally described such actions by the OIC as interference in the country’s internal matters. The communique, according to the statement from Pakistan’s foreign ministry, reaffirmed “support for the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination and freedom from Indian occupation”.